EXECUTIVE  DOCUMENTS. 


No.  3, 


CORRESPONDENCE 


AND    OTUEK 


PAPERS, 


RKLAT.ING    TO 


FORT    SUMTER 


INCLUDIXG    COURESPONDKNCK   OK 


HON.  ISAAC  W.  HAYNE  WITH  THE  PRESIDENT 


SECOND    EDITION. 


C  H  A  R  L  E  S  T  C)  K  : 

STKAM-l'OWER    PRESSES    OF    EVANS    &.    COGSWELL, 

Xo.  3  Broad  nnd  lO."?  East  Uay  Street 

I8r,l. 


Digitized  by  theJnternet  Archive 
in  2010  witii  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/correspondenceot01sout 


EXECUTIVE  DOCUMENTS. 


No.  3. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


AND    OTHER 


PAPERS, 


RELATING   TO 


FORT    SUMTER. 


INCLUDING   CORRESPONDENCE   OF 


HON.  ISAAC  W.  HAYNE  WITH  THE  PRESIDENT. 


SECOND    EDITION. 


CHARLESTON  : 

STEAM-rOWER   PRESSES   OP    EVANS    &   COGSWELL. 
No.  3  Broad  and  103  East  Bay  Street. 

1861. 


% 


JHE  FLOWERS  COLLECTIOM  '^'^ 

:fi5H3 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Xo.  1. 

[major  ANDERSON  TO  THE  GOVERNOR.] 

To  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  : 

Sir  :  Two  of  your  batteries  fired  this  morning  upon  an 
unarmed  vessel  bearing  the  flag  of  my  Government.  As  I  havi- 
not  been  notified  that  war  has  been  declared  by  South  Carolina 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  I  cannot  lint 
think  that  this  hostile  act  Avas  committed  Avithout  your  sanc- 
tion or  authority.  Under  that  hope,  and  that  alone,  did  I 
refrain  from  opening  fire  upon  j'our  batteries. 

I  have  the  honor,  therefr-re,  respectfully  to  ask  whether  the 
above-mentioned  act — one  I  believe  without  a  parallel  in  th  ■ 
history  of  our  country,  or  of  any  other  civilized  Government — 
was  committed  in  obedience  to  your  instructions,  and  to  notify 
you  if  it  be  not  disclaimed,  that  I  must  regard  it  as  an  act  of 
war,  and  that  1  shall  not,  after  a  reasonable  time  for  the  return 
of  my  messenger,  permit  any  vessels  to  pass  within  range  of 
the  guns  of  Biy  Fort. 

In  order  to  save  as  far  as  in  my  power  the  shedding  of  blood, 
I  beg  that  j'ou  Avill  have  due  notification  of  this  mj'  decision, 
given  to  all  concerned. 

Hoping,  however,  that  your  answer  may  be  such  as  will  jus- 
tify a  further  continuance  of  forbearance  on  my  part,  I  have 
the  honor  to  be, 

Veiy  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ROBERT  A^sDERSON, 
Major  1st  Artillery  U.  S.  A.,  Commanding. 

Fort  Sumter,  ^.  C,  January  0.  1S61. 


4 

Xo.  2. 

[the    governor    to    major    ANDERSON.] 

State  of  South  Carolina. 
Executive  Oefice,  Head  Quarters, 
Charleston^  9  January^  1861. 

Sir  :  Your  letter  has  been  received.  In  it  you  make  certain 
statements  which  very  plainl}^  show  that  you  have  not  been 
fully  informed  by  your  Government,  of  the  precise  relations 
which  now  exist  between  it  and  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 
Official  information  has  been  communicated  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  that  the  political  connection,  heretofore 
existing  between  the  State  of  South  Carolina  and  the  States 
which  were  known  as  the  United  States,  had  ceased ;  and  that 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  had  resumed  all  the  power  it  had 
delegated  to  the  United  States  under  the  compact  known  as 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  right  which  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  possessed  to  change  the  political  rela- 
tions it  held  with  other  States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  has  been  solemnly  asserted  by  the  people  of  this 
State,  in  Convention,  and  now  does  not  admit  of  discussion. 

In  anticipation  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  of  which  the 
President  of  the  United  States  had  received  official  notification, 
it  was  understood  by  him,  that  sending  any  reinforcements  of 
the  troops  of  the  United  States  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston, 
would  be  regarded  b}"  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State 
of  South  Carolina  as  an  act  of  hostility;  and  at  the  same  time 
it  was  understood  by  him,  that  an}^  change  in  the  occupation  of 
the  forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston  would,  in  like  manner,  be 
regarded  as  an  act  of  hostility.  Either  or  both  of  these  events 
occurring  during  the  period  in  which  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina constituted  a  part  of  the  United  States,  was  then  distinctly 
notified  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  as  an  act  or  acts 
of  hostility ;  because  either  or  both  would  be  regarded  and  could 
only  be  intended  to  dispute  the  right  of  the  State  of  South 
('arolina  to  that  political  Independence  which  she  has  always 
asserted  and  will  always  maintain. 

Whatever  would  have  been  during  the  continuance  of  this 
State,  while  a  member  of  the  United  States,  an  act  of  hostility; 


became  much  more  so,  when  the  State  of  South  (''aroliiia  hail 
dissolved  its  connection  with  tlie  Government  of  the  United 
States. 

After  the  secession  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  Furt 
Sumter  continued  in  the  possession  of  troops  of  the  United 
States.  How  that  fort  is  at  this  time  in  the  possession  of  the 
troops  of  the  United  States,  is  not  now  necessary  to  discuss. 
It  will  suffice  to  say  that  the  occupancy  of  that  fort  has  been 
regarded  by  the  State  of  South  Carolina  as  the  first  act  of 
positive  hostility  committed  by  the  troops  of  the  United  States 
within  the  limits  of  this  State;  and  was  in  this  light  regarded 
as  so  unequivocal,  that  it  occasioned  the  termination  of  the  ne- 
gotiations, then  pending  at  AVashington;  between  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

The  attempt  to  reinforce  the  troops  now  at  Fort  Sumter,  or 
to  retake  and  resume  possession  of  the  forts  Avithin  the  waters 
of  this  State,  which  you  have  abandoned,  after  spiking  the 
guns  placed  there,  and  doing  otherwise  much  damage,  cannot 
be  regarded  by  the  authorities  of  this  State  as  indicative  of  any 
other  purpose  than  the  coercion  of  the  State  l)y  the  armed  force 
of  the  Government.  To  repel  such  an  attempt  is  too  ])!ainly 
its  duty,  to  allow  it  to  be  discussed.  But,  while  defending  its 
waters,  the  authorities  of  the  State  have  been  careful  so  to  con- 
duct the  affairs  of  the  State  that  no  act,  however  necessary  for 
its  defence,  should  lead  to  an  xiseless  waste  of  life.  Special 
agents,  therefore,  have  been  off  the  bar,  to  Avarn  all  approach- 
ing vessels,  if  armed;  or  unarmed  and  having  troops  to  reinforce 
the  forts  on  board;  not  to  enter  the  harbor  of  Charleston  ;  and 
special  orders  have  been  given  to  the  commanders  of  all  the 
forts  and  batteries,  not  to  fire  at  such  vessels,  until  a  shot  fired 
across  their  bows  would  warn  them  of  the  prohibition  of  the 
State. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  Star  of  the  West,  it  is  under- 
stood, this  morning  attempted  to  enter  this  harbor,  with  troops 
on  board  ;  and  having  been  notified  that  she  could  not  enter, 
was  fired  into.     The  act  is  perfectly  justified  by  me. 

In  regard  to  your  threat  in  regard  to  vessels  in  the  harbor,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  say,  that  you  must  judge  of  youi*  resjionsi- 
bilities.  Your  position  in  this  harbor  has  been  tolerated  by  the 
authorities  of  the  State.     And  while  the  act  of  which  vou  com- 


jilain  is  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  rights  and  duties  of  the 
State,  it  is  not  perceived  how  fiir  the  conduct  which  you  pro- 
pose to  adopt,  can  find  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  anj^  country; 
or  be  reconciled  with  anj-  other  purpose  of  your  Government, 
than  that  of  imposing  upon  this  State  the  condition  of  a  con- 
quered province. 

F.  W.  PICKENS. 
To  Major  Egbert  Anderson, 

Commanding  -Fort  Sumter. 


No  3. 

[major  ANDERSON  TO  THE  GOVERNOR.] 

Head  Quarters,  Fort  Sumter,  S.  C. 
January  9,  1861. 
To  his  Excellency,  F.  W.  Pickens, 

Governor  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  : 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
communication  of  to-day,  and  to  say  that,  under  the  circum- 
stances, I  have  deemed  it  proper  to  refer  the  whole  matter  to 
my  Government ;  and  that  I  intend  deferring  the  course  indi- 
cated in  my  note  of  this  morning  until  the  arrival  from  Wash, 
ington  of  the  instructions  I  may  receive.  I  have  the  honor 
also  to  express  a  hope  that  no  obstructions  will  be  placed  in 
the  way  of,  and  that  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  afford  eveiy 
facility  to,  the  departure  and  return  of  the  bearer,  Lieut.  T. 
Talbot,  IT.  S.  Arm}",  who  has  been  directed  to  make  the  journey. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Very  respectfully, 

EOBEET  ANDEESON, 
Major  U.  S.  Army,  Commanding. 


7 
No.  4. 

[the    governor    to    major   ANDERSON.] 

State  op  South  Carolina, 
Executive  Office,  Charleston, 
11th  January,  18G1. 
To  Major  Eobert  Anderson, 

Commanding  Fort  Sumter  : 
Sir  :  I  have  thought  proper,  under  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  peculiar  state  of  public  affairs  in  the  country  at  present,  to 
appoint  the  Hon.  A.  Gr.  Magrath  and  Gen.  D.  F.  Jamieson,  both 
members  of  the  Executive  Council,  and  of  the  highest  position 
in  the  State,  to  present  to  you  considerations  of  the  gravest 
public  character ;  and  of  the  deepest  interest  to  all  who  depre- 
cate the  improper  waste  of  life;  to  induce  the  delivery  of  Fort 
Sumter  to  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  with  a  pledge,  on  its  part,  to  account  for  such  public 
property  as  is  under  your  charge. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

F.  W.  PICKENS. 


No.  5. 

[major  ANDERSON  TO  THE  GOVERNOR.] 

Head  Quarters,  Fort  Sumter,  S.  C, 
January  11.  1801. 
To  His  Excellency,  F.  W.  Pickens, 

Governor  of  iSouth  Carolina  : 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
demand  for  the  surrender  of  this  fort  to  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina,  and  to  say,  in  I'cply,  that  the  demand  is  one  with 
which  I  cannot  comply.  Your  Excellency  knows  that  I  have 
recently  sent  a  messenger  to  Washington,  and  that  it  will  be 
impossible  for  me  to  receive  an  answer  to  my  dispatches,  for- 
warded by  him,  at  an  earlier  date  than  next  Monday.  What 
the  character  of  my  instructions  may  be,  I  cannot  foresee. 
Should  your  Excellency  deem  fit,  prior  to  a  resort  to  arms, 


8 

to  refer  this  matter  to  Washington,  it  would  afford  me  the 
sincerest  pleasure  to  depute  one  of  my  officers  to  accompany 
any  messenger  you  may  deem  proper  to  be  the  bearer  of  your 
demand. 

Hoping  to  God  that  in  this,  and  all  other  matters  in  which 
the  honor,  welfare  and  lives  of  our  fellow  countrymen  are  con- 
cerned, we  shall  so  act  as  to  meet  His  approval ;  and,  deeply 
regretting  that  you  have  made  a  demand  of  me  with  which  I 
cannot  comply, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

With  the  highest  regard, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

EOBEET   ANDEESON, 
Major  U.  S.  Army,  Commanding. 


No.  6. 
[the  governor  to  the  president  of  the  united  states.] 

State  of  South  Carolina, 
Executive  Office,  Head  Quarters, 
Charleston,  January  11,  1861. 

Sir  :  At  the  time  of  the  separation  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  from  the  United  States,  Fort  Sumter  was,  and  still  is, 
in  the  possession  of  troops  of  the  United  States,  under  the 
command  of  Major  Anderson.  I  regard  that  possession  as 
not  consistent  with  the  dignity  or  safety  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina;  and  I  have  this  day  addressed  to  Major  Anderson  a 
communication  to  obtain  from  him  the  possession  of  that  fort, 
by  the  authorities  of  this  State.  The  reply  of  Major  Anderson 
informs  me  that  he  has  no  authority  to  do  what  I  required 
but  he  desires  a  reference  of  the  demand  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States. 

Under  the  circumstances  now  existing,  and  which  need  no 
comment  by  me,  I  have  determined  to  send  to  you  the  Hon. 
I.  W.  Hayne,  the  Attorney  General  of  the  State  of  South  Car- 
olina, and  have  instructed  him  to  demand  the  delivery  of  Fort 
Sumter,  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston-  to  the  constituted  authori- 
ties of  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 


The  demand  I  have  made  of  Major  Anderson,  and  which  I 
now  make  of  you,  is  suggested  because  of  my  earnest  desire  to 
avoid  the  bloodshed  which  a  persistence  in  your  attempt  to 
retain  the  possession  of  that  Fort  will  cause;  and  which  will  be 
unavailing  to  secure  you  that  possession,  but  induce  a  calamity 
most  deeply  to  be  deplored. 

If  consequences  so  unhappy  shall  ensue,  I  will  secui'e  for  this 
State,  in  the  demand  which  I  noAV  make,  the  satisfaction  of 
having  exhausted  ever}"  attempt  to  avoid  it. 

In  relation  to  the  public  property  of  the  United  States 
within  Fort  Sumter,  the  Hon.  I.  W.  Ilayne,  who  will  hand  you 
this  communication,  is  authorized  to  give  you  the  pledge  of  the 
State  that  the  valuation  of  such  property  will  be  accounted 
for,  by  this  State,  upon  the  adjustment  of  its  relations  Avith  the 
United  States,  of  which  it  was  a  part. 


F.  W.  PICKENS. 


To  the  President 

of  the  United  States. 


No.  7. 


[instructions  from  the  state  department  op  the  executive 

OFFICE    to    HON.    I.    W.    HAYNE.] 

State  of  South  Carolina, 
Executive  Office,  State  Department. 
Charleston,  January  12,  18G1. 

Sir:  The  Governor  has  considered  it  proper,  in  view  of  the 
grave  questions  which  now  affect  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
and  the  United  States,  to  make  a  demand  upon  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  for  the  deliveiy  to  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina of  Fort  Sumter,  now  within  the  territorial  limits  of  this 
State,  and  occupied  by  troops  of  the  United  States. 

The  Convention  of  the  People  of  South  Carolina  authorized 
and  empowered  its  Commissioners  to  enter  into  negotiations 
with  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  for  the  delivery  of 
forts,  magazines,  light  houses,  and  other  real  estate  within  the 
limits  of  South  Carolina. 

The   circumstances  which    caused   the  interruption  of  that 


10 

negotiation  are  known  to  yon:  with  the  formal  notification  of 
its  cessation,  was  the  urgent  expression  of  the  necessity  for  the 
withdrawal  of  the  troops  of  the  United  States  from  the  harbor 
of  Charleston. 

The  interruption  of  these  negotiations  left  all  matters  con- 
nected with  Fort  Sumter  and  troops  of  the  United  States 
within  the  limits  of  this  State,  affected  by  the  fact;  that  the 
continued  possession  of  the  Fort  was  not  consistent  with  the 
dignity  or  safety  of  the  State ;  and  that  an  attempt  to  rein- 
force the  troops  at  that  fort  would  not  be  allowed.  This, 
therefore,  became  a  state  of  hostilit}';  in  consequence  of  which 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  was  placed  in  a  condition  of  de- 
fence. During  the  prei^aration  for  this  purpose,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter,  and  repelled. 

You  are  now  instructed  to  proceed  to  Washington,  and  there, 
in  the  name  of  the  Government  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
enquire  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  w^hether  it  was 
by  his  order  that  troops  of  the  United  States  were  sent  into 
the  harbor  of  Charleston  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter;  if  he  avows 
that  order,  you  will  then  enquire,  whether  he  asserts  a  right  to 
introduce  troops  of  the  United  States  within  the  limits  of  this 
State,  to  occupy  Fort  Sumter :  and  you  will,  in  case  of  his 
avowal,  inform  him  that  neither  will  be  permitted;  and  either 
will  be  regarded  as  his  declaration  of  war  against  the  State  of 
South  Carolina. 

The  Governor,  to  save  life,  and  determined  to  omit  no  course 
of  proceeding  usual  among  civilized  nations,  previous  to  that 
condition  of  general  hostilities  which  belongs  to  war;  and  not 
knowing  under  what  order,  or  by  what  authority.  Fort  Sumter 
is  now  held  ;  demanded  from  Major  Eobert  Anderson,  now  in 
command  of  that  fort,  its  delivery  to  the  State.  That  officer, 
in  his  reply,  has  referred  the  Governor  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  at  "Washington.  You  will,  therefore,  demand 
from  the  President  of  the  United  States  the  withdrawal  of  the 
troops  of  the  United  States  from  that  fort,  and  its  delivery  to 
the  State  of  South  Carolina. 

You  ai'e  instructed  not  to  allow  any  question  of  property 
claimed  by  the  United  States  to  embarrass  the  assertion  of  the 
political  right  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  to  the  possession  of 
Fort  Sumter.  The  possession  of  that  fort  by  the  State  is  alone 
consistent  with  the  dignity  and  safety  of  the  State  of  South 


11 

Carolina  :  but  such  possession  is  not  inconsistent  with  a  right 
to  compensation  in  money  in  another  Government,  if  it  has 
against  the  State  of  South  Carolina  nwj  just  claim  connected 
with  that  fort.  But  the  possession  of  the  fort  cannot,  in  regard 
to  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  be  compensated  by  any  consid- 
eration of  an}'  kind  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
when  the  possession  of  it  by  tlie  Government  is  invasive  of  the 
dignity  and  affects  the  safety  of  the  State.  That  possession 
cannot  become  now  a  matter  of  discussion  or  negotiation.  You 
will,  therefore,  require  from  the  President  of  the  United  States 
a  positive  and  distinct  answer  to  your  demand  for  the  delivery 
of  the  fort.  And  you  are  fiirtlier  authorized,  to  give  the  pledge 
of  the  State  to  adjust  all  matters  which  may  be,  and  are  in 
their  nature,  susceptible  of  valuation  in  money;  in  the  manner 
most  usual,  and  upon  the  principles  of  equity  and  justice 
always  recognized  by  independent  nations,  for  the  ascertain- 
ment of  their  relative  rights  and  obligations  in  such  matters. 
You  are  further  instructed  to  say  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  that  the  Governor  regards  the  attempt  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  if  avowed,  to  continue  the  pos- 
session of  Fort  Sumter;  as  inevitably  leading  to  a  bloody  issue, 
a  question  which,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Governor,  can  have 
but  one  conclusion;  reconcilable  with  a  due  regard  to  the  State 
of  South  Carolina,  the  welfare  of  the  other  States  which  now 
constitute  the  United  States,  and  that  humanity  which  teaches 
all  men,  but  particularly  those,  who  in  authority  control  the 
lives  of  others;  to  regard  a  resort  to  arms,  as  the  last  Avhich 
should  be  considered.  To  shed  their  blood  in  defence  of  their 
rights  is  a  duty,  which  the  citizens  of  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina fully  recognize.  And  in  such  a  cause,  the  Governor,  while 
deploring  the  stern  necessity  which  ma}^  compel  him  to  call  for 
the  sacrifice;  will  feel  that  his  obligation  to  preserve  inviolate 
the  sacred  rights  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  justify  the 
sacrifice  necessary  to  secure  that  end.  The  Governor  does  not 
desire  to  remiiul  the  President  of  the  responsibilities  which  are 
upon  him. 

PespectfuUy,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  G.  MAGEATn. 
To  Hon.  I.  W.  Hayne, 

Special  Envoy  from  the  State  of  South  Carolina 

to  the  President  of  the  United  States. 


12 

No.  8. 

[letter  op  senators  of  seceding  states  to  HON.  I.  W.  IIAYNE.] 

"Washington  City,  January  Ibth,  1861. 
Hon.  Isaac  W.  Hayne  : 

Sir  :  We  are  apprised  that  you  visit  Washington,  as  an 
Envoy  from  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  hearing  a  communi- 
cation from  the  Governor  of  jonr  State  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  rehition  to  Fort  Sumter.  Without  knowing 
its  contents,  we  venture  to  request  you  to  defer  its  delivery  to 
the  President  for  a  few  days,  or  until  you  and  he  have  consid- 
ered the  suggestions  which  we  beg  leave  to  submit. 

We  know  that  the  possession  of  Fort  Sumter  by  troops  of 
the  United  States,  coupled  wnth  the  circumstances  under  which 
it  Avas  taken,  is  the  chief,  if  not  only,  source  of  difficulty  be- 
tween the  Government  of  South  Carolina  and  that  of  the 
United  States.  We  would  add,  that  we,  too,  think  it  a  just 
cause  of  irritation  and  of  apprehension  on  the  part  of  your 
State.  But  we  have  also  assurances,  notwithstanding  the  cir- 
cumstances under  which  Major  Anderson  left  Fort  Moultrie 
and  entered  Fort  Sumter  with  the  forces  under  his  command  ; 
that  it  was  not  taken,  and  is  not  held,  with  any  hostile  or  un- 
friendly purpose  towards  your  State;  but  merely  as  property  of 
the  United  States,  which  the  President  deems  it  his  duty  to 
protect  and  preserve. 

We  will  not  discuss  the  question  of  right  or  duty  on  the  part 
of  either  Government  touching  that  iiro^^erty,  or  the  late  acts 
of  either  in  relation  thereto ;  but  we  think  that,  without  any 
compromise  of  right  or  breach  of  duty  on  either  side,  an  ami- 
cable adjustment  of  the  matter  of  differences  may  and  sliould 
be  adopted.  We  desire  to  see  such  an  adjustment,  and  to  pre- 
vent war  or  the  shedding  of  blood.  We  represent  States  which 
have  already  seceded  from  the  United  States,  or  will  have  done 
so  before  the  first  of  February  next,  and  which  will  meet  j'our 
State  in  Convention  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  of  that  month. 
Our  people  feel  that  they  have  a  common  destiny  with  your 
people,  and  expect  to  form  with  them,  in  that  Convention,  a 
new  Confederation  and  Provisional  Government.  We  must 
and  will  share  your  fortunes,  suffering  with  you  the  evils  of 


13 

war,  if  it  cannot  be  avoided ;  and  enjoying  with  j-ou  the  bless- 
ings of  peace,  if  it  can  be  preserved.  We,  therefore,  think  it 
especially  due  from  South  Carolina  to  our  States — to  say  noth- 
ing of  other  slaveholding  States — that  she  should,  as  far  as  she 
can,  consistently  with  her  honor,  avoid  initiating  hostilities 
between  her  and  the  United  vStates  or  anj^  other  Power.  AYe 
have  the  public  declaration  of  the  President,  that  he  has  not 
the  constitutional  power  or  the  will  to  make  war  on  South 
Carolina,  and  that  the  public  peace  .shall  not  be  disturbed  by 
any  act  of  hostility  towards  your  State. 

AVe,  therefore,  see  no  reason  why  there  may  not  be  a  settle- 
ment of  existing  difficulties,  if  time  be  given  for  calm  and 
deliberate  counsel  with  those  States  which  are  equally  involved 
with  South  Carolina.  We,  thei'efore,  trust  that  an  arrange- 
ment will  be  agreed  on  between  you  and  the  President,  at  least 
till  the  lifteenth  February  next;  by  which  time  your  and  our 
States  may,  in  Convention,  devise  a  wise,  just  and  peaceable 
solution  of  existing  difficulties. 

In  the  meantime,  we  think  your  State  should  sufter  Major 
Anderson  to  obtain  necessary  supplies  of  food,  fuel  or  water, 
and  enjoy  fi'ee  communication,  b}"  post  or  special  messenger, 
Avith  the  President;  upon  the  understanding  that  the  President 
will  not  send  him  reinforcements  during  the  same  period.  We 
propose  to  submit  this  proposition  and  your  answer  to  the 
President. 

If  not  clothed  with  power  to  make  such  arrangement,  then 
we  trust  that  j'ou  will  submit  our  suggestions  to  the  Governor 
of  your  State .  for  his  instructions.  Until  you  have  received 
and  communicated  his  response  to  the  President,  of  course 
your  State  Avill  not  attack  Fort  Sumter,  and  the  President  will 
not  offer  to  reinforce  it. 

We  most  respectfully  submit  these  propositions,  in  the  earnest 
hope  that  3'ou,  or  the  proper  authority  of  your  State,  may  accede 

to  them. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be, 

With  profound  esteem, 

Your  obedient  servants, 
Louis  T.  Wkjfall,  C.  C.  Clat,  Jr. 

John  Hemphill,  Benjamin  Fitzpatrick, 

d.  l.  yulee,  a.  iverson, 

S.  E.  Mallouv,  John  Seidell, 

Jefferson  Davis,  I.  P.  Benjamin. 


14 

No.  9. 

[letter  op  HON.  I.  W.   HAYNE  IN  REPLY  TO  SENATORS  FROM  SECED- 
ING STATES.] 

"Washington,  January,  1861. 

Gentlemen:  I  have  just  received  your  communication,  dated 
the  15th  instant.  You  represent,  you  say,  States  which  have 
already  seceded  from  the  United  States,  or  will  have  done  so 
before  the  1st  of  February  next,  and  which  will  meet  South 
Cai'olina  in  Convention,  on  or  before  the  15th  of  that  month  : 
that  your  people  feel  they  have  a  common  destiny  with 
our  people,  and  expect  to  form  with  them  in  that  Conven- 
tion a  new  Confederacy  and  Provisional  Government:  that  you 
must,  and  will  share  our  fortunes,  suifcring  with  us  the  evils  of 
war,  if  it  cannot  be  avoided,  and  enjoying  with  us  the  blessings 
of  peace,  if  it  can  be  preserved. 

I  feel,  gentlemen,  the  force  of  this  appeal,  and,  so  far  as  my 
authority  extends,  most  cheerfully  comply  with  your  request. 

I  am  not  clothed  with  power  to  make  the  arrangements  you 
suggest,  but  provided  you  can  get  assurances,  with  which  j^ou 
are  entirely  satisfied,  that  no  reinforcements  will  be  sent  to 
Fort  Sumter  in  the  interval,  and  that  public  peace  shall  not  be 
disturbed  by  any  act  of  hostility  towards  South  Carolina,  I 
will  refer  your  communication  to  the  authorities  of  South  Car- 
olina, and  withholding  their  communication,  with  which  I  am 
at  present  charged,  will  await  for  their  instructions. 

Major  Anderson,  and  his  command,  let  me  assure  you,  do 
now  obtain  all  necessary  supplies  of  food,  (including  fresh  meat 
and  vegetables,)  and,  I  believe,  fuel  and  water;  and  do  now 
enjoy  free  communication  by  post,  and  special  messengers  with 
the  President,  and  will  continue  to  do  so,  certainly,  until  the 
door  of  negotiation  shall  be  closed. 

If  your  proposition  is  acceded  to,  you  may  assure  the  Presi- 
dent that  no  attack  will  be  made  on  Fort  Sumter,  until  a 
response  from  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  has  been  received 
by  me,  and  communicated  to  him. 

With  great  consideration  and  profound  esteem, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

ISAAC  W.  HAYNE, 
Envoy  from  the  Governor  and  Council  of  South  Carolina. 


15 

Ko.  10. 

[letter  of  senators  of  seceding  states  to  the  president.] 

Senate  Chamber, 

January  11,  1861. 

Sir  :  We  have  been  requested  to  present  to  you  copies  of  a 
correspondence  between  certain  Senators  of  the  United  States 
and  Col  Isaac  "VY.  Hayne,  now  in  this  city,  in  behalf  of  the 
Government  of  South  Carolina ;  and  to  ask  that  you  will  take 
into  consideration  the  subject  of  said  coiTCspondence. 
Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

BEN.  FITZPATRICK. 
S.  R.  MALLOPtY. 
JOHN  SLIDELL. 

To  His  Excellency,  James  Buchanan, 

President  United  States. 


No.  11. 


[letter  of  the  president,  through  the  HON.  J.  HOLT,  SECRETARY 

of  war,  ad  interim,  to  the  senators  of  the  seceding  states.] 

War  Department, 
January  22,  1861. 

To  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Fitzpatrick,  S.  E.  Mallory,  and  John 
Seidell : 

Gentlemen  :  The  President  has  received  your  communica- 
tion of  the  19th  instant,  with  the  copy  of  a  correspondence  be- 
tween yourselves  and  others,  "  representing  States  which  have 
already  seceded  from  the  United  States,  or  will  have  done  so 
before  the  1st  of  February  next,"  and  Col.  Isaac  W.  Hayne,  of 
South  Carolina,  in  behalf  of  the  Government  of  that  State,  in 
relation  to  Fort  Sumter  j  and  you  ask  the  President  to  "take 
into  consideration  the  subject  of  that  correspondence."  With 
this  request  he  has  complied,  and  has  directed  me  to  communi- 
cate his  answer. 

In  your  letter  to  Col.  Ilayne.  of  the  15th  inst.,  you  propose 


16 

to  him  to  defer  the  delivery  of  a  message  from  the  Grovernor  of 
South  Carolina  to  the  President,  with  which  he  has  been  en- 
trusted, for  a  few  days,  or  until  the  President  and  Col.  Hayne 
shall  have  considered  the  suggestions  which  you  submit.  It  is 
unnecessary  to  refer  speciall}^  to  these  suggestions,  because  the 
letter  addressed  to  you  by  Col.  Hayne,  of  the  17th  instant, 
presents  a  clear  and  specific  answer  to  them.  In  this  he  says  : 
"■  I  am  not  clothed  with  power  to  make  the  arrangement  you 
suggest ;  but  provided  you  can  get  assurances,  with  which  you 
are  entirely  satisfied,  that  no  reinforcements  will  be  sent  to 
Fort  Sumter,  in  the  interval,  and  that  the  public  peace  will  not 
be  disturbed  by  any  act  of  hostility  towards  South  Carolina,  I 
will  refer  your  communication  to  the  authorities  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and,  withholding  the  communication  with  which  I  am 
at  present  charged,  will  await  further  instructions." 

From  the  beginning  of  the  present  unhappy  troubles,  the 
President  has  endeavored  to  perform  his  executive  duties  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  countiy,  and  to 
prevent  bloodshed.  This  is  still  his  fixed  purpose.  You, 
therefore,  do  him  no  more  than  justice  in  stating  that  you 
have  assurances,  (from  his  public  messages,  I  presume,)  that, 
"notwithstanding  the  circumstances  under  which  Major  Ander- 
son left  Fort  Moultrie,  and  entered  Fort  Sumter  with  the  forces 
under  his  command,  it  was  not  taken,  and  is  not  held  with  any 
hostile  or  unfriendly  purpose  towards  your  State,  but  merely 
as  property  of  the  United  States,  which  the  President  deems  it 
his  duty  to  protect  and  preserve,"  you  have  correctly  stated 
what  the  President  deems  to  be  his  duty.  His  sole  object  now 
is,  and  has  been,  to  act  strictly  on  the  defensive,  and  to  author- 
ize no  movement  against  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  unless 
clearly  justified  by  a  hostile  movement  on  their  part.  He  could 
not  have  given  a  better  proof  of  his  desire  to  prevent  the  effu- 
sion of  blood,  than  by  forbearing  to  resort  to  the  use  of  force, 
under  the  strong  provocation  of  an  attack,  (happily  without  a 
fatal  result,)  on  an  unarmed  vessel  bearing  the  flag  of  the 
United  States. 

I  am  happy  to  observe  that,  in  your  letter  to  Col.  Hayne,  you 
express  the  opinion,  that  it  is  "  especially  due  from  South  Caro- 
lina to  our  States,  to  say  nothing  of  other  slaveholding  States, 
that  she  should,  as  far  as  she  can  consistently  with  her  honor, 
avoid  initiating  hostilities  between  her  and  the  United  States, 


17 

or  any  other  power."  To  initiate  such  hostilities  against  Fort 
Sumter,  would,  beyond  question,  be  an  act  of  war  against  the 
United  States. 

In  regard  to  the  proposition  of  Col.  Ilayne,  "that  no  re- 
inforcements will  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter,  in  the  interval,  and 
that  the  public  peace  will  7iot  be  distui-bed  b}'  any  act  of  hos- 
tility towards  South  Carolina,"  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  give 
you  any  such  assurances.  The  President  has  no  authority  to 
enter  into  such  an  agreement  or  understanding.  As  an  executive 
officer,  he  is  simply  bound  to  protect  the  public  property,  so  far 
as  this  may  be  practicable ;  and  it  would  be  a  manifest  viola- 
tion of  his  dut}^  to  place  himself  under  engagements  that  he 
would  not  perform  this  dut}^  either  for  an  indefinite  or  a  lim- 
ited period.  At  the  present  moment,  it  is  not  deemed  necessary 
to  reinforce  Major  Anderson,  because  he  makes  no  such  request, 
and  feels  quite  secure  in  his  position.  Should  his  safety,  how- 
ever, require  reinforcements,  every  elfort  will  be  made  to 
supply  them. 

In  regard  to  an  assurance  from  the  President,  "that  the  pub- 
lie  peace  will  not  be  disturbed  by  an}-  act  of  hostility  towards 
South  Carolina,"  the  answer  will  readily  occur  to  yourselves. 
To  Congress,  and  to  Congress  alone,  belongs  the  power  to 
make  war,  and  it  would  be  an  act  of  usurpation  for  the  Execu- 
tive to  give  any  assurance  that  Congress  would  not  exercise 
this  power,  however  strongly  he  may  be  convinced  that  no 
such  intention  exists. 

I  am  glad  to  be  assured,  from  the  letter  of  Col.  Ilayne,  that 
"  Major  Anderson  and  his  command  do  now  obtain  all  necessary 
supplies,  including  fresh  meat  and  vegetables,  and,  I  believe, 
fuel  and  Avater,  from  the  Cit}'  of  Charleston,  and  do  now  enjoy 
communication,  by  post  and  special  messenger,  with  the  Presi- 
dent, and  will  continue  to  do  so,  certainly'  until  the  door  to 
negotiation  has  been  closed."  I  trust  that  these  facilities  may 
still  be  all'orded  to  Major  Anderson.  This  is  as  it  should  be. 
Major  Anderson  is  not  menacing  Charleston ;  and  1  am  con- 
vinced that  the  happiest  result  which  can  be  attained  is,  that 
both  he  and  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina  shall  remain  on 
their  present  amicable  footing,  neither  party  being  bound  by 
any  obligations  whatever,  except  the  high  Christian  and  moral 
2 


18 

duty  to  keep  the  peace,  and  to  avoid  all  causes  of  mutual  irri- 
tation. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  HOLT, 
Secretary  of  War,  ad  interim. 


No.  12. 

[letter  of  senators  of  seceding    states  to  HON.  I.  W.  HAYNE.] 

Washington,  23  January^  1861. 
Hon.  Isaac  W.  Hayne. 

Sir  :  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  17tb  inst.,  we  have 
now  to  inform  you  that,  after  communicating  with  the  Presi- 
dent, we  have  received  a  letter  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  addressed  to  Messrs.  Fitzpatrick,  Mallory  and  Slidell,  on 
the  subject  of  our  proposition,  which  letter  we  now  enclose  to 
you.  Although  its  terms  are  not  as  satisfactory  as  we  could 
have  desired,  in  relation  to  the  ulterior  purj)0se8  of  the  Execu- 
tive, we  have  no  hesitation  in  expressing  our  entire  confidence 
that  no  reinforcements  will  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter,  nor  will  the 
public  peace  be  disturbed  within  the  period  requisite  for  full 
communication  between  yourself  and  your  Government ;  and 
we  trust,  therefore,  that  you  will  feel  justified  in  applying  for 
further  instructions  before  delivering  to  the  President  any  mes- 
sage with  which  you  may  have  been  charged. 

We  take  this  occasion  to  renew  the  expression  of  an  earnest 
hope  that  South  Carolina  will  not  deem  it  incompatible  with 
her  safety,  dignity  or  honor,  to  refrain  from  initiating  any 
hostilities  against  any  Power  whatsoever ;  or  from  taking  any 
steps  tending  to  produce  collision,  until  our  States,  which  are 
to  share  her  fortunes,  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  joining  their 
counsels  with  hers. 

We  are,  with  great  respect. 

Your  obedient  servants, 

LOUIS  T.  WIGFALL, 
D.  L.  YULEE. 
1.  P.  BENJAMIN, 
A.  IVEESON, 
JOHN  HEMPHILL, 
JOHN  SLIDELL, 
C.  C.  CLAY,  Jr. 


19 

P.  >S.  Some  of  the  signatures  to  the  former  letter  addressed 
to  you  are  not  affixed  to  the  foregoing  communication,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  departure  of  several  Senators,  now  on  their 
way  to  their  respective  States. 


No.  13. 

[letter   op  HON.  I.  W.  HAYNE  TO  SENATORS  OF    SECEDING  STATES.] 

To  THE  Honorable  Louis  T.  Wigfall,  D.  L.  Yulee,  I.  P.  Ben- 
jamin, A.  IvERSON,  John  Hemphill,  John  Slidell,  and 
C.  C.  Clay,  Jr. 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  received  3-our  letter  of  the  23d  inst.. 
enclosing  a  communication  dated  the  22d  inst.,  addressed  to 
Messrs.  Fitzpatrick,  Mallory  and  Slidell,  from  the  Secretary 
of  War,  ad  interim.  This  communication  from  the  Secretary  is 
far  from  being  satisfactory  to  me.  But,  inasmuch  as  you  state 
that  "we  (3'ou)  have  no  hesitation  in  expressing  an  entire  con- 
fidence that  no  reinforcement  "will  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter,  nor 
will  the  public  peace  be  disturbed  within  the  period  requisite  for 
full  communication  between  yourself  (myself)  and  your  (my) 
Government,"  in  compliance  with  our  previous  understanding. 
I  withhold  the  communication  with  which  I  am  at  present 
charged,  and  refer  the  whole  matter  to  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina,  and  Avill  await  their  reph'. 

Mr.  Gourdin  of  South  Carolina,  now  in  this  city,  will  leave 
here  by  the  evening's  train,  and  will  lay  before  the  Governor  of 
South  Carolina  and  his  Council,  the  whole  correspondence 
between  yourselves  and  myself,  and  between  you  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States;  with  a  communication  from  me. 
asking  further  instructions. 

I  cannot,  in  closing,  but  express  my  deep  regret  that  the 
President  should  deem  it  necessary  to  keep  a  gari'ison  of  troops 
at  Fort  Sumter  for  the  protection  of  the  "  'property"  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  South  Carolina  scorns  the  idea  of  appropriating  to 
herself  t\iQ  property  of  another,  whether  of  a  Government  or  an 


20 

individual,  without  accounting,  to  the  last  dollai',  for  eveiything 
which,  for  the  protection  of  her  citizens,  and  in  vindication  of 
her  own  honor  and  dignity,  she  may  deem  it  necessary  to  take 
into  her  OAvn  possession.  As  property,  Foi-t  Sumter  is  in  far 
greater  jeopardy  occupied  by  a  garrison  of  United  States 
troops,  than  it  would  be  if  delivered  over  to  the  State  authori- 
ties, with  the  pledge  that,  in  regard  to  that  and  all  other 
property  claimed  by  the  United  States  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  South  Carolina,  thej-  would  full}"  account,  uj)on  a  fair  adjust- 
ment. 

Upon  the  other  point  of  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  and 
the  avoidance  of  bloodshed  :  Is  it  supposed  that  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  fort  in  the  midst  of  a  harbor,  with  guns  bearing  upon 
every  position  of  it,  by  a  Government  no  longor  acknowledged, 
can  be  other  than  the  occasion  of  constant  irritation,  excitement 
and  indignation  ?  It  creates  a  condition  of  things  which  I  fear 
is  but  little  calculated  to  advance  the  observance  of  the  "high 
(christian  and  moral  duty  to  keep  the  peace,  and  to  avoid  all 
causes  of  mutual  irritation,"  recommended  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  in  his  communication. 

In  my  judgment,  to  continue  to  hold  Fort  Sumter  by  United 
States  troops,  is  the  worst  j)0ssible  means  of  protecting  it  as 
property;  and  the  worst  possible  means  for  effecting  a  peaceful 
solution  of  present  difficulties. 

I  beg  leave,  in  conclusion,  to  say  that  it  is  in  deference  to  the 
unanimous  opinion  expressed  by  the  Senators  present  in  Wash- 
ington, "representing  States  which  have  already  seceded  from 
the  United  States,  or  will  have  done  so  before  the  1st  of  Febru- 
ary next,"  that  I  comply  with  your  suggestions.  And  I  feel 
assured  that  suggestions  from  such  a  quarter  will  be  considered 
with  profound  respect  by  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina,  and 
will  have  great  weight  in  determining  their  action. 

With  high  consideration,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
Very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

ISAAC  W.  HAYNB, 
Envoy  from  the  Governor  and  Council  of  South  Carolina. 


21 

Xo.  14. 

[despatch  from  the  HON.  A.  G.  MAGRATH    TO  HON.  I.  W.  HAYNE.] 

State  of  South  Carolina. 
Executive  Office,  State  Department. 
Charleston,  January  2(3,  18G1. 

Sir  :  Your  despatch  has  been  received,  covei'ing  with  other 
papers  the  reply  of  the  President  through  Mr.  Holt,  Secretarv 
of  War,  ad  interim,  dated  the  22d  of  January,  1861,  to  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Fitzpatrick,  Mr.  Mallory,  and  Mr.  Slidell,  enclos- 
ing to  him  a  corres})ondence  between  certain  Senators  of  the 
United  States  and  Col.  -Isaac  W.  Hayne;  the  letter  of  certain 
Senators  to  you,  dated  the  23d  January,  1861  j  and  your  reply  to 
those  Senators,  dated  the  2-l:th  January,  1861. 

In  the  letter  of  the  Senators  addressed  to  you,  and  dated 
the  15th  Januaiy,  1861,  after  stating  that  the  possession  of 
Fort  Sumter  by  troops  of  the  United  States,  coupled  with  the 
circumstances  under  which  it  was  taken,  is  the  chief,  if  not  the 
only  source  of  difficulty,  between  the  Government  of  South 
Carolina  and  that  of  the  United  States j  they  add  that  they. 
'' too,  think  it  a  just  cause  of  irritation  and  apprehension  on 
the  part  of  your  (this)  State."  They  then  further  state  that 
they  had  assurances,  notwithstanding  other  circumstances 
which  seemed  inconsistent  therewith;  that  Fort  Sumter  ''was 
not  taken,  and  is  not  held  with  any  hostile  or  unfriendly  pur- 
pose towards  your  (this)  State,  but  merely  as  pi'operty  of  thi- 
United  States;  which  the  President  deems  it  his  duty  to  pro- 
tect and  preserve."  Under  the  influence  of  that  feeling  of  a 
common  destiny  which  now  animates  the  seceding  States;  and 
impressed  with  the  earnest  desire  which  seems  to  have  been 
cherished  in  these  States;  to  accomplisli  that  separation  from 
the  United  States,  which  they  regarded  as  essential  to  their 
welfare,  without  the  ills  which  civil  war  produces;  these  Sena- 
tors proposed  that  time  should  be  given  for  calm  and  deliberate 
counsel  with  the  States,  which  are  equally  involved  with  South 
Carolina,  in  the  future  issue  of  their  present  conduct.  To 
secure  the  time  necessary  for  the  counsel  which  should  be  had. 
they  proposed  that  this  State  "should  suffer  ^Major  Anderson 
to  obtain  necessary  supplies  of  food,  fuel  or  water,  and  enjoy 
free  communication  by  post  or  special  messenger  with  the 
President,  upon  the  understanding  that  the  President  will  not 
send  him  reinforcements  during  the  same  period." 


22 

No  such  communication  was  anticipated  by  the  Governor,  in 
the  instructions  with  which  you  were  furnished.  But  the  dis- 
cretion Avhich  3"ou  exercised  in  dehiying  the  deliver}^  of  the 
letter  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  which  you 
were  charged;  under  the  circumstances  which  then  existed, 
commends  itself  to  the  approval  of  the  Governor.  Such  a 
course  on  your  part  was  due  from  this  State  to  the  representa- 
tives of  those  States,  the  people  of  which,  in  the  language  of 
their  Senators,  "feel  a  common  destiny  with  your  (our)  people, 
and  expect  to  form  with  them  a  new  Confederacy  and  Pro- 
visional Government;"  and  who  "must  and  will  share  your 
(Our)  fortunes;  suffering  with  yon  (us)  the  evils  of  war,  if  it 
cannot  be  avoided,  and  enjoying  the  blessings  of  peace,  if  it  can 
be  preserved." 

The  reply  of  the  President  to  the  proposition  thus  made, 
referring  to  the  statement  of  the  intentions  with  which  Fort 
Sumter  is  held,  as  derived  from  his  ''public  messages,"  concedes 
that  his  purpose  as  stated;  that  is,  to  hold  Fort  Sumter  "merely 
as  property  of  the  United  States"  which  he  *'  deems  it  his  duty 
to  protect  and  preserve;"  is  correct.  He  declares  it  to  be  his 
sole  object  to  act  strictly  on  the  defensive,  and  to  ''authorize 
no  movement  against  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  unless 
clearl}"  justified  by  a  hostile  movement  on  their  part."  The 
President  then,  for  proof  of  his  desire  to  prevent  the  effusion 
of  blood,  alludes  to  his  forbearance  to  resort  to  "the  use  of 
force  under  the  strong  provocation  of  an  attack  on  an  unarmed 
vessel  bearing  the  flag  of  the  United  States." 

Referring  next  to  the  anxious  desire  of  the  Senators  of  the 
seceding  States,  that  this  State  "should  as  far  as  she  can,  con- 
sistentl}'  with  her  honor,  avoid  initiating  hostilities  between  her 
and  the  United  States,  or  any  other  Power;"  the  President  de- 
clares "that  to  initiate  such  hostilities  against  Fort  Sumter, 
would,  beyond  question,  be  an  Act  of  war  against  the  United 
States."  And  in  reply  to  the  proposition  that  "  no  reinforce- 
ments will  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter,"  which  is  stated  in  his  let- 
ter to  be  your  proposition,  he  declares  "it  is  impossible  for  me 
(him)  to  give  you  (the  Senators)  any  such  assurance."  He 
states  that  "he  has  no  authority  to  enter  into  such  an  arrange- 
ment or  understanding,"  and  that  it  would  be  "a  manifest 
violation  of  his  duty  to  place  himself  under  engagements,  that 
he  would  not  perform  this  duty  either  for  an  indefinite  or  a 


23 

limited  period."  It  is  also  added  by  him  that  ''at  the  present 
moment  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  reinforce  Major  Ander- 
son because  he  makes  no  such  request,  and  feels  quite  secure  in 
his  position."  But  should  his  safetj^  require  it,  every  effort  will 
be  made  to  supply  reinforcements. 

The  letter  from  the  Senators  to  you,  and  your  reply  to  that 
letter,  present  a  marked  and  agreeable  contrast  to  the  letter  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  Governor  appreciates 
the  feeling  which  the  letter  of  the  President  must  have  excited 
in  the  Senators  to  whom  it  was  addressed;  their  forbearance  in 
the  expression  of  their  opinion  fully  as  to  its  character;  and 
their  generosity  is  still  continuing  to  entertain  the  hope,  that 
collision  ma}'  be  avoided ;  until  the  States  the}'  represent  may 
share  the  dangers  which  menace  this  State.  The  Govei-nor  con- 
curs also  in  the  justice  and  force  of  your  reply  to  those  Senators. 
The  reasons  which  you  have  set  forth  in  your  reply  to  the  let- 
ter of  the  Senators  to  you,  conclusively  establish  the  propriety 
of  that  demand  which  the  letter  from  the  Governor  is  intended 
to  make  upoii  the  President ;  whether  the  possession  of  Fort 
Sumter  be  considered  merely  in  regard  to  its  preservation  as  a 
piece  of  property  claimed  by  the  United  States;  or  the  continu- 
ance of  its  retention  be  referred  to  a  conclusion  derived  from 
the  "obligations"  which  ''high  Christian  and  moral  duty" 
would  make  imperative;  if  the}^  were  appealed  to,  as  they 
should  be,  in  this  case,  as  the  sole  and  proper  guides  for  those 
whose  conduct  involves  the  gravest  responsibilities. 

The  acquiescence  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
the  "  arrangement  or  understanding,"  by  which  he  woukl  be 
prevented  from  sending  reinforcements  to  Fort  Sumter,  was 
intended  ;  and  so  declared,  by  the  Senators  of  the  seceding 
States,  to  be  binding  upon  him;  in  case  of  the  acquiescence  of 
this  State  in  certain  measures  which  the}'  proposed  this  State 
should  adopt.  "With  the  concession  from  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina, tiiey  evidently  expected  a  concession  from  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  And  they  proposed  that  in  the  interval 
which  was  necessary  to  enable  you  to  receive  a  reply  from  the 
Governor,  the  President  should  not  send  reinforcements  to  Fort 
Sumter ;  and  that  certain  facilities  now  enjoyed  by  Major 
Anderson  and  his  garrison  at  Fort  Sumter,  should  be  continued. 
The  reply  of  the  President,  therefore,  contains  his  refusal,  not 
only  of  the  general  proposition,  to  abstain  from  doing  until  the 


24 

15th  da}'  of  Febiuar}',  the  day  named  by  the  Senators  in  tlieir 
letter,  that  whieii,  wlienever  he  attempts,  he  knows  will  be 
regarded  by  the  State  of  South  Carolina  as  an  act  of  war ;  but 
he  refuses  also  to  abstain  from  attempting  this  act,  even  dur- 
ing the  jjeriod  necessaiy  to  enable  you  to  communicate  to  the 
Governor  the  proposition  of  these  Senators. 

All  that  the  State  of  South  Carolina  was  desired,  in  the  letter 
of  these  Senators,  to  do  in  relation  to  Major  Andei-son  and  his 
garrison,  it  had  done ;  not  in  its  acknowledgment  of  any  right 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  but  in  the  discharge  of  the 
suggestions  of  courtesy;  and  with  a  desire  not  to  visit  upon 
Major  Anderson  and  his  garrison  the  consequences  of  the  irri- 
tation which  the  conduct  of  his  Government  was  so  well 
calculated  to  produce.  Nor  would  the  acquiescence  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  in  the  forbearance  required 
from  it,  have  done  more  than  to  have  secured  the  status,  in 
which  all  matters  within  the  harbor  of  Charleston  were  at  this 
time;  by  putting  uj)on  the  State  an  obligation  not  to  attack 
Fort  Sumter,  and  upon  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
an  obligation  not  to  reinforce  it  with  fresh  troops.  With  the 
supplies  which  Major  Anderson  and  his  garrison  were  receiv- 
ing ;  with  the  facilities  which  he  and  his  garrison  enjoyed  in 
regard  to  the  mails;  no  pretext  for  interference  with  the  harbor 
of  Charleston  could  be  found,  except  in  connection  with  the 
right  claimed  to  reinforce  the  troops  at  Fort  Sumter :  a  right, 
which,  claimed  by  the  President,  as  involved  in  a  duty,  would 
farther  involve  a  necessity  that  he  should  determine,  when  his 
duty  was  to  be  discharged,  by  his  exercise  of  this  right. 

It  is  true  that  the  President,  in  his  letter,  intimates  that  no 
reinforcements  will  be  sent,  because  Major  Anderson  has  made 
no  such  request,  and  feels  quite  secure  in  his  position.  It  is 
not,  however,  to  be  forgotten,  that,  upon  a  recent  occasion, 
when  it  is  understood  that  Major  Anderson  did  not  call  for 
reinforcements,  and  may  be  presumed  to  have  felt  then  as 
secure  in  his  position  as  he  does  now,  reinforcements  were  sent 
to  him;  nor  was  it  the  fault  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  that  they  did  not  reach  him. 

The  pi-oposition  thus  made  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  the  act  of  Southern  Senators,  unsolicited  and  unex- 
pected. It  was  the  evidence  of  a  generous  impulse,  which, 
having  animated  them  in  the  continuance  of  their  connection 


25 

with  the  United  States,  as  long  as  that  connection  could  be 
maintained  with  regard  to  the  rights  of  the  States  they  repre- 
sented; was  exhibited,  even  in  the  moment  of  their  final  separa- 
tion, in  an  anxious  desire  to  avoid  collision  and  strife  Avith 
those,  whom  they  could  not  recognize  longer  as  their  brethren 
in  that  political  Union  wliich  liad  been  terminated.  The  mod- 
eration of  the  terms  in  which  thc}^  asked  the  acquiescence  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  will  be  long  remembered. 
Their  request  was  simply  that  he  would  abstain  from  those 
acts,  which  were  unnecessary  for  the  purposes  he  professed;  and 
were  surely  calculated  to  develope  the  ills  he  declared  himself 
anxious  to  avert. 

At  this  period,  and  under  such  cii'cumstances,  it  is  not  only 
important,  bat  indispensably  necessary,  that  the  Governor 
should  correctly  understand  the  position  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  intends  to  occupy  towards  this 
State.  And  the  correspondence,  which  has  produced  the  letter 
of  the  President,  serves  to  dispel  much  of  whatever  doubt  may 
have  hitherto  existed.  If  the  President  of  the  United  States 
desired  only  to  protect  Fort  Sumter  as  property,  Avhat  higher 
assurance  of  its  safety  could  he  have  found  than  in  the  pledge 
of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  that  it  should  not  be  attacked? 
If  it  was  not  to  be  defended  as  property,  but  as  a  military  post 
of  the  United  States,  then,  indeed,  it  would  be  "a  manifest  vio- 
lation of  his  duty"  to  agree  not  to  reinforce  it.  The  assertion, 
therefore,  that  it  is  only  held  as  property,  is  inconsistent  with 
those  requirements  of  duty,  which  the  President  alleges  to  be 
obligatory  upon  him;  but  which  are  obligatory  upon  him  only 
in  relation  to  a  military  post.  The  Governor  is,  therefore, 
forced  to  conclude,  that,  stripped  of  all  disguise,  the  real  pur- 
pose of  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  to  keep  and  de- 
fend Fort  Sumter,  within  the  limits  of  South  Carolina,  as  a 
military  post  of  the  United  States. 

This  conclusion  of  the  real  purpose  which  controls  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  in  relation  to  this  State,  is  not 
the  less  a  result  of  the  position  which  the  President  of  the 
United  States  has  assumed  in  relation  to  the  proposition  which 
the  Senators  of  the  seceding  States  have  generously  made ; 
than  of  the  action  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
regard  to  other  States  which  have  seceded.  And  it  is  consid- 
ered by  the  Governor  to  be  his  duty — one  which  the  State  of 


26 

South  Carolina  will  so  acknowledge — to  regard  all  hostile 
attempts  made  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  upon 
any  State  which  has  seceded,  as  attempts  made  directly  upon 
this  State.  There  is  no  doubt,  that  at  this  moment,  hostile 
purposes,  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  are  in  ope- 
ration, which  affect  Florida  or  Georgia.  It  does  not  admit  of 
a  doubt,  that  an  armed  vessel  of  the  United  States  is  now 
transporting,  with  the  purpose  of  landing,  troops  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  soil  of  one  or  more  of  the  States  which  have 
seceded,  with  hostile  intentions  towards  such  State.  Another 
expedition,  the  existence  of  which  is  ascertained,  but  the  pre- 
cise nature  of  which  is  more  concealed,  has  been  undertaken 
for  a  like  purpose.  And  that  which  gives  to  these  hostile 
attempts  a  complexion  the  least  inviting  is,  that  they  are 
secretly  undertaken,  and  their  execution  covertly  attempted, 
amid  professions  of  an  earnest  desire  to  avoid  collision  ;  to  save 
the  waste  of  life ;  and  to  fulfil  the  highest  obligations  of  moral- 
ity. While  the  Commissioner  deputed  by  the  State  of  Virginia 
is  honestly  urging  upon  the  authorities  of  this  and  other  States 
to  avoid  all  occasions  of  collision  with  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  ;  and,  while  from  the  same  State  another  Com- 
missioner is  attempting  to  recommend  the  same  counsels  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  a  hostile  exj^edition  is  on  its 
way  to  attempt  the  coercion  of  a  State,  when  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  seems  to  listen  to  the  suggestions  of  peace 
from  that  ancient  Commonwealth. 

The  Governor  regards  it  as  a  happy  circumstance  that  in 
deferring  to  the  wishes  of  the  Senators  who  have  interposed  in 
the  mission  with  which  you  were  charged,  their  good  intent 
has  been  rewarded,  in  leading  to  that  declaration  from  the 
President,  which,  in  every  seceding  State,  will  be  regarded  as 
equivalent  to  his  declaration  of  war  against  them ;  and  thus 
save  them  from  the  consequences  of  a  generous,  but  misplaced, 
confidence. 

Nor  is  it  proper  that  it  should  be  understood,  that  what  the 
President  is  pleased  to  consider  a  proof  of  his  forbearance, 
should  seem  to  have  the  acquiescence  of  the  Governor  in  the 
correctness  of  that  construction  of  his  conduct,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances of  a  case,  wholly  unjustifiable,  and  more  than 
ascffravating:.  It  is  not  for  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  seem  to  consider  the  repulse  of  a  vessel  sent  here  with  re- 


27 

inforcements.  as  the  attack  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  upon 
an  unarmed  vessel.  If  it  had  not  the  armament  of  a  vessel 
intended  for  war,  the  less  excusable  was  the  attempt  to  intro- 
duce, under  the  shield  of  a  peaceful  trader,  armed  men  for  the 
purpose  of  executing  the  orders  of  the  President.  It  was  not 
onl}'^  a  hostile  demonstration,  but,  while  hostile,  it  was  attempt- 
ed to  be  made  successful  under  a  disguise,  which,  if  it  had 
secured  the  result  which  was  desired,  Avould  have  left  nothing 
but  the  mere  success  to  compensate  for  the  sacrifice  of  the  pro- 
prieties with  which  it  had  been  purchased. 

The  opinion  of  the  Governor,  as  to  the  propriety  of  the 
demand  which  is  contained  in  the  letter,  with  the  delivery  of 
which  you  are  chai'ged,  has  not  only  been  confirmed  by  the 
circumstances  which  your  mission  has  developed  ;  but  is  now  ' 
increased  into  a  conviction  of  its  necessity.  The  safety  of  the 
State  requires  that  the  position  of  the  President  should  be  dis- 
tinctly undex'stood.  The  safety  of  all  the  seceding  States 
requires  it,  as  much  as  the  safety  of  South  Carolina.  If  it  be 
so,  that  Fort  Sumter  is  held  but  as  property,  then,  as  property, 
the  rights,  whatever  they  nia}^  be,  of  the  United  States,  can 
be  ascertained ;  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  those  rights,  the 
pledge  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  you  are  authorized  to 
give.  If  Fort  Sumter  is  not  held  as  property,  it  is  held  as  a 
military  post ;  and  such  a  post,  within  the  limits  of  this  State, 
will  not  be  tolerated. 

The  letter  of  the  President  may  be  received  a**  the  reply  to 
the  question  j^ou  were  instructed  to  ask,  as  to  his  assertion  of 
the  right  to  send  reinforcements  to  Fort  Sumter.  You  were 
instructed  to  say  to  him,  if  he  asserted  that  right,  that  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  regarded  such  a  right,  when  assei'ted; 
or  with  an  attempt  at  its  exercise,  as  a  declaration  of  war.  If 
the  President  intends  it  shall  not  be  so  understood,  it  is  proper, 
to  avoid  any  misconception  hereafter,  that  he  should  be  in- 
formed of  the  manner  in  which  the  Grovei'nor  will  feel  bound 
to  regard  it. 

If  the  President,  when  you  have  stated  the  reasons  which 
prompt  the  Governor  in  making  the  demand  for  the  delivery  of 
Fort  Sumter,  shall  refuse  to  deliver  the  fort,  upon  the  pledge 
you  have  been  authorized  to  make,  you  will  communicate  that 
refusal,  without  delay,  to  the  Governor.  If  the  President  shall 
not  be  prepared  to  give  you  an  immediate  answer,  you  will 


28 

communicate  to  him  that  his  answer  may  be  transmitted,  with- 
in a  reasonable  time,  to  the  Governor  at  this  place.  The  Gov- 
ernor does  not  consider  it  necessary  that  you  should  remain  in 
Washington  longer  than  is  necessary  to  execute  this,  the  clos- 
ing duty  of  your  mission,  in  the  manner  now  indicated  to  you. 
As  soon  as  the  Crovernor  shall  receive  from  you  information 
that  you  have  closed  your  mission,  and  the  reply,  whatever  it 
may  be,  of  the  President,  he  will  consider  the  conduct  which 
will  be  necessary  on  his  part. 

To  the  Senators,  w^ho  have  so  generously  intei'posed  in  this 
matter,  the  Governor  desires  you  to  express  the  satisfaction  he 
has  experienced  with  the  interest  they  have  exhibited,  and  the 
concurrence  they  have  manifested,  in  the  earnest  desire  which 
has  governed  him,  in  his  attempt  to  secure  for  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  its  just  rights,  without  the  waste  of  life  or  loss 
of  blood.  If  other  counsels  shall  prevail  with  the  Government 
at  Washington,  the  Governor  feels  that,  whatever  unhappy 
results  may  follow,  his  efforts  and  the  efforts  of  those  Senatoi-s 
will  have  been  eaimestly  made  to  avert  them.  A  copy  of  this 
note  to  you,  the  Governor  desires  you  to  address  to  those 
Senators. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  for  the  Governor  to  make  any  fur- 
ther communication  to  you  than  this  note.     To  this,  he  desires 
me  to  add  the  expression  of  his  thanks  for  the  manner  in  which 
you  have  executed  the  duty  with  which  you  were  charged. 
Very  respectfully,  yours,  &c.,  &c. 

A.  G.  MAGEATH. 
To  the  Hon.  I.  W.  Hayne, 

Special  Envoy  from  the  State  of  South  Carolina. 


No.  15. 
[mr.  hayne  to  the  president  of  the  united  states,] 

Washington,  January  31,  1861. 
To  his  Excellency,  James  Buchanan,  President  : 

Sir  : — 1  had  the  honor  to  hold  a  short  interview  with  j^ou  on 
14th  instant,  informal  and  unofficial.  Having  previously  been 
informed  that  you  desired  that  whatever  was  official  should  be. 


29 

on  both  sides,  conducted  by  written  commnni cations,  I  did  not 
at  that  time  present  my  credentials,  but  verbally  informed  you 
that  I  bore  a  letter  from  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  in 
regard  to  the  occupation  of  Fort  Sumter,  which  I  Avould  deliver 
the  next  day  under  cover  of  a  written  communication  from 
myself.  The  next  daj"-,  before  such  communication  could  be 
made,  I  was  waited  upon  b}*  a  Senator  fx'om  Alabama,  Avho 
stated  that  he  came  on  tbc  part  of  all  the  tSenators  then  in 
Washington  from  the  States  wbich  bad  already  seceded  from 
the  United  States,  or  would  certainly  have  done  so  before  the 
1st  day  of  P^'ebrnary  next.  The  Senator  from  Alabama  urged, 
tliat,  be  and  they  were  interested  in  the  subject  of  my  mission, 
in  almost  an  equal  degree  with  the  authorities  of  South  Caro- 
lina. He  said,  that,  hostilities,  commenced  between  South  Car- 
olina and  your  CTOvernmcnt,  would  necessarily  involve  the 
States  represented  by  tbemselvcs  in  civil  strife,  and  fearing 
that  the  action  of  South  Carolina  might  complicate  the  rela- 
tions of  your  Government  to  the  seceded  and  seceding  States, 
and,  thereby,  interfere  with  a  peaceful  solution  of  existing 
diflficulties,  these  Senators  requested  that  I  would  withhold  my 
message  to  yourself  until  a  consultation  among  themselves 
could  be  had.  To  this  I  agreed,  and  the  result  of  the  consulta- 
tion was  the  letter  of  these  Senators  addressed  to  me,  dated 
15th  January,  a  copy  of  which  is  in  3-our  possession.  To  this 
letter  I  replied  on  the  17th,  and  a  copy  of  that  repl}'  is  likewise 
in  your  possession.  This  correspondence,  as  I  am  informed, 
was  made  the  subject  of  a  communication  from  Senators  Fitz- 
patrick,  Mallory,  and  Slidell,  addressed  to  you,  and  your  atten- 
tion called  to  the  contents.  These  gentlemen  received  on  the 
22d  day  of  January,  a  reply  to  their  application,  conveyed  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  them,  dated  22d,  signed  by  the  Hon.  J. 
HOLT,  Secretary  of  War,  ad  interim.  Of  this  letter,  3"0u,  of 
course,  have  a  copy.  This  letter  from  Mr.  Holt  was  communi- 
cated to  me  under  the  cover  of  a  letter  fronx  all  the  vSenators  of 
the  seceded  and  seceding  States,  who  still  remainod  in  AYash- 
ington ;  and  of  this  letter,  too,  I  am  informed,  you  have  been 
furnished  Avith  a  copy. 

This  reply  of  3'ours  through  the  Secretary  of  War,  ad  interim, 
to  the  application  made  by  the  Senators,  was  entirely  unsatis- 
factory to  me.  It  appeared  to  me  to  be  not  only  a  rejection, 
in  advance,  of  the  main  proposition  made  by  these  Senators, 


30 

to  wit :  that  "  an  arrangement  slionld  be  agreed  on  between 
the  authorities  of  South  Carolina  and  jour  Government,  at 
least  until  the  15th  February  next,  by  which  time  South  Car- 
olina and  the  States  represented  by  the  Senators  might,  in 
Convention,  devise  a  wise,  jusi,  and  peaceable  solution  of  exist- 
ing difficulties;"  "in  the  meantime,"  they  say,  "we  think,  (that 
is,  these  Senators,)  that  your  State  (South  Carolina)  should 
suffer  Major  Anderson  to  obtain  necessary  supplies  of  food, 
fuel  or  water,  and  enjoy  free  communication  by  post  or  spe- 
cial messenger  with  the  President,  upon  the  understanding 
that  the  President  will  not  send  him  reinforcements  during 
the  same  period;"  but,  besides  this  rejection  of  the  main  prop- 
osition, there  was  in  Mr.  Holt's  letter,  a  distinct  refusal  to  make 
any  stipulation  on  the  subject  of  reinforcement,  even  for  the 
short  time  that  might  be  required  to  communicate  with  my 
Grovernment. 

This  reply  to  the  Senatoi's  was,  as  I  have  stated,  altogether 
unsatisfactory  to  me,  and  I  felt  sure  that  it  would  be  so  to  the 
authorities  whom  I  re2)resented.  It  was  not,  however,  ad- 
dressed to  me,  or  to  the  authorities  of  South  Cai'olina ;  and,  as 
South  Carolina  had  addressed  nothing  to  your  Grovernment,  and 
had  asked  nothing  at  your  hands,  I  looked  not  to  Mr.  Holt's 
letter,  but  to  the  note  addressed  to  me  by  the  Senators  of  the 
seceded  and  seceding  States.  I  had  consented  to  withhold  my 
message  at  their  instance,  provided  they  could  get  assurances 
satisfactory  to  them.,  that  no  reinforcements  would  be  sent  to 
Fort  Sumter  in  the  interval,  and  that  the  peace  should  not  be 
disturbed  by  any  act  of  hostility.  The  Senators  expressed 
in  their  note  to  me  of  the  23d  inst.,  their  "  entire  confidence 
that  no  reinforcements  will  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter,  nor  will  the 
public  peace  be  disturbed  within  the  period  requisite  for  full 
communication  between  you  (myself)  and  your  (my)  Grovern- 
ment," and  renewed  their  request  that  I  would  withhold  the 
communication  with  which  I  stood  charged,  and  await  further 
instructions.  This  1  have  done.  The  further  instructions 
arrived  on  the  30th  inst.,  and  bear  date  the  26th.  I  now  have 
the  honor  to  make  to  you  my  first  communication  as  Special 
Envoy  from  the  Government  of  South  Carolina.  You  will  find 
enclosed  the  original  communication  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States  from  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  with 
which  I  was  charged  in  Charleston  on  the  12th  day  of  January, 


31 

instant,  the  day  on  which  it  boars  date.  I  am  now  instructed 
by  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  to  say,  that  "  his  opinion  as 
to  the  propriety  of  the  demand  which  is  contained  in  this  letter 
has  not  only  been  confirmed  by  the  circumstances  which  your 
(my)  mission  has  developed,  but  is  now  increased  to  a  convic- 
tion of  its  necessity.  The  safety  of  the  State  requires  that  the 
position  of  the  President  sliould  be  distinctly  understood.  The 
safety  of  all  seceding  States  requires  it  as  much  as  the  safety 
of  South  Carolina.  If  it  be  so,  that  Fort  Sumter  is  held  as 
■property,  then  as  propei'ty,  the  rights,  whatever  they  may  be,  of 
the  United  States,  can  be  ascertained,  and  for  the  satisfaction 
of  these  rights  the  pledge  of  the  State  of  South  Cai'olina  you 
are  (I  am)  authorized  to  give."  "  If  Fort  Sumter  is  not  held 
as  property,  it  is  held,"  say  my  instructions,  "  as  a  military 
post,  and  such  a  post  within  the  limits  of  South  Carolina  can- 
not be  tolerated." 

You  will  perceive  that  it  is  upon  the  presumption  that  it  is 
solely  as  property  that  you  continue  to  hold  Fort  Sumter,  that 
I  have  been  selected  for  the  performance  of  the  duty  upon 
which  I  have  entered.  I  do  not  come  as  a  military  man  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  a  fortress,  but  as  the  legal  officer  of 
the  State,  its  Attorney  General,  to  claim  for  the  State  the  exer- 
cise of  its  undoubted  right  of  eminent  domain,  and  to  pledge 
the  Slate  to  make  good  all  injury  to  the  rights  of  property 
which  may  arise  from  the  exercise  of  the  claim. 

South  Carolina,  as  a  separate,  indej^endent  sovereignty, 
assumes  the  right  to  take  into  her  possession  everything  Avithin 
her  limits  essential  to  maintain  her  honor  or  her  safety,  irre- 
spective of  the  question  of  property,  subject  only  to  the  moral 
dut}'  requiring  that  compensation  should  be  made  to  the  owner. 
This  right  she  cannot  permit  to  be  drawn  into  discussion.  As 
to  compensation  for  any  property,  whether  of  an  individual  or 
a  Government,  which  she  may  deem  it  necessary  for  her  honor 
or  safety  to  take  into  her  possession,  her  past  history  gives 
ample  guaranty  that  it  will  be  made,  upon  a  fair  accounting, 
to  the  last  dollar.  The  proposition  now  is,  that  her  law  officer 
should,  under  authority  of  the  Governor  and  his  Council,  dis- 
tinctly pledge  the  faith  of  South  Carolina  to  make  such  com- 
pensation in  regard  to  Fort  Sumter,  and  its  appurtenances  and 
contents,  to  the  full  extent  of  the  money  value  of  the  property 


32 

of  the  United  States,  delivered  over  to  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina,  bj"  j^our  command. 

I  will  not  suppose  that  a  pledge  like  this  can  be  considered 
insufficient  security.  Is  not  the  money  value  of  the  property 
of  the  United  States  in  this  fort,  situated  where  it  cannot  be 
made  available  to  the  United  States  for  any  one  purpose  for 
which  it  was  originally  constructed,  worth  more  to  the  United 
States  than  the  property  itself?  AVhy,  then,  as  property,  insist 
on  holding  it  by  an  armed  garrison  ?  Yet  such  has  been  the 
ground  upon  which  you  have  invariably  placed  your  occupancy 
of  this  fort  by  troops ;  beginning,  prospectively,  with  your 
annual  Message  of  the  4th  December ;  again  in  your  special 
Message  of  the  9th  January,  and  still  more  emphatically  in 
your  Message  of  the  28th  January.  The  same  position  is  set 
forth  in  your  reply  to  the  Senators,  through  the  Secretary  of 
War,  ad  interim.  It  is  there  virtually  conceded  that  Fort  Sum- 
ter ''  is  held  merely  as  property  of  the  United  States,  which 
you  deem  it  your  duty  to  protect  and  preserve." 

Again,  it  is  submitted  that  the  continuance  of  an  armed  pos- 
session actually  jeopards  the  pi'opertj^  you  desire  to  protect. 
It  is  impossible  but  that  such  a  possession,  if  continued  long 
enough,  must  lead  to  collision.  Xo  people  not  completely 
abject  and  pusillanimous,  could  submit,  indefinitely,  to  the 
armed  occupation  of  a  fortress  in  the  midst  of  the  harbor  of 
its  principal  city,  and  commanding  the  ingress  and  egress  of 
every  ship  that  enters  the  port ;  the  daily  ferry  boats  that  ply 
upon  the  waters,  moving  but  at  the  sufferance  of  aliens.  An 
attack  upon  this  fort  would  scarcely  improve  it  as  property, 
whatever  the  result,  and,  if  captured,  it  would  no  longer  be  the 
subject  of  account. 

To  protect  Fort  Sumter,  merely  as  property,  it  is  submitted 
that  an  armed  occupancy  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  that  it 
is  manifestl}'  the  worst  possible  means  which  can  be  resorted 
to  for  such  an  object. 

Your  reply  to  the  Senators,  through  Mr.  Holt,  declares  it  to 
be  your  sole  object  "  to  act  strictly  on  the  defensive,  and  to 
authorize  no  movement  against  South  Carolina  unless  justified 
by  a  hostile  movement  on  their  part,"  yet,  in  reply  to  the  pro- 
position of  the  Senators  that  no  reinforcements  should  be  sent 
to  Fort  Sumter,  provided  South  Carolina  agrees  that  during 
the  same  period  no  attack  should  be  made,  you  say  :  "  It  is 


33 

impossible  for  me  (your  Secretary)  to  give  you  (the  Senators) 
any  such  assurance,"  that  it  "  would  be  a  manifest  violation  of 
his  (your)  duty  to  place  himself  (yourself)  under  engagements 
that  he  (3'ou)  would  not  perform  the  duty  either  for  an  indefi- 
nite or  a  limited  j^eriod." 

In  your  Message  of  the  28th  inst.,  in  expressing  yourself  in 
regard  to  a  similar  2:»i"oposition,  you  say:  ''However  strong 
may  be  mj^  desire  to  enter  into  such  an  agreement,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  I  do  not  possess  the  power.  Congress,  and  Con- 
gress alone,  under  the  war-making  power,  can  exercise  the  dis- 
cretion of  agreeing  to  abstain  'from  any  and  all  acts  calculated 
to  produce  a  collision  of  arms'  between  this  and  other  govern- 
ments. It  would,  therefore,  be  a  usurpation  for  the  Executive 
to  attempt  to  restrain  their  hands  by  an  agreement  in  regard 
to  matters  over  which  he  has  no  Constitutional  control.  If  he 
were  thus  to  act,  they  might  pass  laws  which  he  should  be 
bound  to  obey,  though  in  conflict  with  his  agreement."  'ihe 
jjroposition,  it  is  suggested,  was  addressed  to  you  under  the 
laws  as  they  now  are,  and  was  not  intended  to  refer  to  a  new 
condition  of  things  arising  under  new  legislation.  It  was 
addressed  to  the  Executive  discretion,  acting  under  existing 
laws.  If  Congress  should,  under  the  war-making  power,  or 
in  any  other  way,  legislate  in  a  manner  to  affect  the  peace  of 
South  Carolina,  her  interests  or  her  rights,  it  would  not  be 
accomplished  in  secret.  South  Carolina  Avould  have  timel}* 
notice,  and  she  would,  I  trust,  endeavor  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency. 

It  is  added  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  Holt,  that  "at  the  present 
moment  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  reinforce  Major  Ander- 
son, because  he  makes  no  such  request,  and  feels  quite  secure 
in  his  position.  But  should  his  safety  require  it,  every  effort 
will  be  made  to  suppl}*  reinforcements."  This  Avould  seem 
to  ignore  the  other  branch  of  the  proposition  made  by  the  Sen- 
ators, viz :  that  no  attack  Avas  to  be  made  on  Fort  Sumter  dur- 
ing the  period  suggested,  and  that  Major  Anderson  should  en- 
joy the  facilities  of  communication,  &c.,  &;c. 

I  advert  to   this  point,  however,  for  the  purpose  of  saying 

that  to  send  reinforcements  to  Fort  Sumter  could  not  serve  as  a 

means  of  protectiiuj  und  preserving  PEOPEETY,  for,  as  must  be 

known  to  your  Government,  it  would  inevitably  lead  to  imme- 

3 


34 

diate  hostilities,  in  which  property  on  all  sides  would  neces- 
sarily sutfer. 

South  Carolina  has  every  disposition  to  preserve  the  public 
peace,  and  feels,  I  am  sure,  in  full  force,  those  high,  "Chris- 
tian and  moral  duties"  i*eferred  to  by  your  Secretary,  and  it 
is  submitted  that  on  her  part  there  is  scarcely  any  considera- 
tion of  mere  property,  apart  from  honor  and  safety,  which 
could  induce  her  to  do  aught  to  jeopard  that  peace,  still  less  to 
inaugurate  a  protracted  and  bloody  civil  war.  She  rests  her 
position  on  something  higher  than  mere  property.  It  is  a  con- 
sideration of  her  own  dignity  as  a  sovereign,  and  the  safety  of 
her  people,  which  prompts  her  to  demand  that  this  pi'operty 
should  not  longer  be  used  as  a  military  post  by  a  Government 
she  no  longer  acknowledges.  She  feels  this  to  be  an  impera- 
tive duty.  It  has,  in  fact,  become  an  absolute  necessity  of 
her  condition. 

Repudiating,  as  you  do,  the  idea  of  coercion,  avowing  peace- 
ful intentions  and  expressing  a  patriot's  hoi'ror  for  civil  war 
and  bloody  strife  among  those  who  once  were  brethren,  it 
is  hoped  that  on  further  considei'ation  you  will  not,  on  a 
mere  question  of  property,  refuse  the  reasonable  demand  of 
South  Carolina,  which  honor  and  necessity  alike  compel  her  to 
vindicate.  Should  yon  disappoint  this  hope,  the  responsibility 
for  the  result  surely  does  not  rest  with  her.  If  the  evils  of  war 
are  to  bo  encountered,  especiall}'  the  calamities  of  civil  war,  an 
elevated  statesmanship  would  seem  to  require  that  it  should  be 
accepted  as  the  unavoidable  alternative  of  something  still  more 
disastrous,  such  as  national  dishonor  or  measures  materially 
affecting  the  safety  or  permanent  interests  of  a  people — tliat  it 
should  be  a  choice  deliberately  made,  and  entered  upon  as  war, 
and  of  set  purpose.  But  that  war  should  be  the  incident  or 
accident,  attendant  on  a  policy  professedly  peaceful,  and  not 
required  to  effect  the  object  which  is  avowed  as  the  only  end 
intended,  can  only  be  excused  when  there  has  been  no  warning 
given  as  to  the  consequences. 

I  am  further  instructed  to  say,  that  South  Carolina  cannot, 
by  her  silence,  appear  to  acquiesce  in  the  imputation  that  she 
was  guilty  of  an  act  of  unprovoked  aggression  in  firing  on  the 
Star  of  the  West.  Though  an  unarmed  vessel,  she  Avas  filled 
with  armed  men  entering  her  territory  against  her  will,  with 
the  jDurpose  of  reinforcing  a  garrison,  held,  within  her  limits, 


35 

against  her  protest.  She  forbears  to  recriminate  l\v  discussing 
the  question  of  the  propriety  of  attempting  such  a  reinforce- 
ment at  all,  as  ■well  as  of  the  disguised  and  secret  manner  in 
which  it  was  intended  to  be  effected.  And  on  this  occasion  she 
will  say  nothing  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Fort  Sumter  was 
taken  into  the  possession  of  its  present  occujnints. 

The  interposition  of  the  Senators  who  have  addressed  you, 
was  a  circumstance  uiiexpocted  l>v  my  (Tovornment.  and  unso- 
licited certainly  by  me.  The  Ciovernor,  while  he  appreciates 
the  high  and  generous  motives  by  which  the}*  were  prompted, 
and  while  he  fully  approves  the  delay  which,  in  deference  to 
them,  has  taken  place  in  the  presentation  of  tliis  demand,  feels 
that  it  cannot  longer  ho  withheld. 

I  conclude  with  an  extract  from  the  instructions  just  received 
by  me  from  the  Government  of  South  Carolina  : 

"  The  letter  of  the  President,  through  Mr.  Holt,  may  be  re- 
ceived as  the  reply  to  the  question  3-ou  were  instructed  to  ask, 
as  to  his  assertion  of  his  right  to  send  reinforcements  to  Fort 
Sumter.  You  were  instructed  to  say  to  him  if  he  asserted  that 
right,  that  the  State  of  South  Carolina  regarded  such  a  right 
when  asserted,  or  with  an  attempt  at  its  exercise,  as  a  declara- 
tion of  war. 

"  If  the  President  intends  it  shall  not  be  so  understood,  it  is 
proper  to  avoid  any  misconception  hereafter,  that  he  should  be 
inlbrined  of  the  manner  in  wliicli  the  Governor  will  feel  bound 
to  regard  it. 

"  If  the  President,  when  you  have  stated  the  reasons  which 
prompt  the  Governor  in  making  the  demand  for  the  delivery  of 
Sumter,  shall  refuse  to  deliver  the  fort  upon  the  pledge  j^ou 
have  been  authorized  to  make,  you  will  communicate  that 
refusal  M'ithout  delay  to  the  Governor.  If  the  President  shall 
not  be  prepared  to  give  you  an  immediate  answer,  you  will 
communicate  to  him  that  his  answer  may  be  transmitted  within 
a  reasonable  time  to  the  (xovcrnor  at  this  place,  (Charleston, 
South  Carolina.) 

"  The  Governor  does  not  consider  it  necessary  that  yoii  (I) 
should  remain  longer  in  Washington  than  is  necessary  to  exe- 
cute this,  the  closing  duty  of  your  (my)  mission,  in  the  manner 
now  indicated  to  you  (me.)  As  soon  as  the  Governor  shall 
receive  from  you  information  that  you  have  closed  your  mis- 


36 

sion,  and  the  reply,  whatever  it  may  be,  of  the  President,  ho 
will  consider  the  conduct  Avhich  may  be  necessary  on  his  part." 
Allow  me  to  request  that  3'ou  would,  as  soon  as  possible, 
inform  me  whether,  under  these  instructions.  I  need  await  your 
answer  in  Washington  ;  and  if  not,  I  Avould  be  pleased  to  con- 
vey from  you  to  my  Government,  information  as  to  the  time 
when  an  answer  may  be  expected  in  Charleston. 
With  hio-h  consideration, 

I  am,  very  respecttull}^, 

ISAAC  W.  HAYNE, 

Special  Envoy. 


No.  16. 

[letter    of    MR.    HOLT    TO    MR.    HAYNE.] 

War  Department,  February  6,  1801. 

Sir  :  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  received  your 
letter  of  the  81st  ult.,  and  has  charged  me  with  the  duty  of 
replying  thereto. 

In  the  communication  addressed  to  the  President  by  Gov- 
ernor Pickens,  under  date  of  the  12th  of  January,  and  which 
accompanies  yours  now  before  me,  his  Excellenc}^  says :  *<  I 
have  determined  to  send  to  you  the  Hon.  I.  W.  Hayne,  the 
Attorney  General  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  have 
instructed  him  to  demand  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter,  in  the 
harbor  of  Charleston,  to  the  constituted  authorities  of  the 
State  of  South  Carolina.  The  demand  I  have  made  of  Major 
Anderson,  and  which  1  now  make  of  you,  is  suggested  because 
of  my  earnest  desire  to  avoid  the  bloodshed  which  a  persist- 
ence in  your  attempt  to  retain  the  possession  of  that  Fort  will 
cause,  and  which  will  be  unavailing  to  secure  to  you  that  pos- 
session, but  induce  a  calamity  most  deeply  to  be  deplored." 
The  character  of  the  demand  thus  authorized  to  be  made, 
appears  under  the  intiuence,  I  presume,  of  the  cori*espondence 
with  the  Senators  to  which  you  refer,  to  have  been  modified 
b}^  subsequent  instructions  of  his  Excellency,  dated  the  26th, 
and  received  by  yourself  on  the  30th  of  January,  in  which  he 
says :  "  If  it  be  so  that  Fort  Sumter  is  held  as  property,  then, 


37 

as  property,  the  ri2;lits.  whatever  they  may  be,  of  the  United 
States,  can  be  ascertained,  and  for  the  satisfaction  of  these 
rights,  the  pledge  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  you  are 
authorized  to  give."  The  full  scope  and  pi'ecise  purport  of 
your  instructions,  as  thus  modified,  you  have  expressed  in  the 
following  words  :  '•  I  do  not  come  as  a  military  man  to  demand 
the  surrender  of  a  fortress,  but  as  the  legal  officer  of  the  State, 
its  Attorney  General,  to  claim  for  the  State  the  exercise  of 
its  undoubted  right  of  eminent  domain,  and  to  pledge  the  State 
to  make  good  all  injury  to  the  rights  of  property  which  arise 
from  the  exercise  of  the  claim."  And  lest  this  explicit  lan- 
guage should  not  sufficiently  define  your  position,  you  add : 
"  The  proposition  now  is  that  her  (South  Carolina's)  law  officer 
should,  under  authority  of  the  Governor  and  his  Council,  dis- 
tinctly pledge  the  faith  of  South  Carolina  to  make  such  com- 
pensation, in  reii-ard  to  Fort  Sumter,  and  its  appurtenances  and 
contents,  to  the  full  extent  of  the  money  value  of  the  property 
of  the  United  States,  delivered  over  to  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina  by  your  command."  You  then  adopt  his  Excellency's 
train  of  thought  upon  the  subject,  so  far  as  to  suggest  that  the 
possession  of  Fort  Sumter  by  the  United  States,  ''  if  continued 
long  enough,  must  lead  to  collision,"  and  that  "an  attack  upon 
it  would  scarcely  improve  it  as  property,  whatever  the  result, 
and  if  captured,  it  would  no  longer  be  the  subject  of  account." 
The  proposal,  then,  now  presented  to  the  President,  is  simply 
an  offer  on  the  part  of  South"  Carolina  to  buy  Fort  Sumter  and 
contents,  as  property  of  the  United  States,  sustained  b}"  a 
declaration,  in  eftect,  that,  if  she  is  not  permitted  to  make  the 
purchase,  she  will  seize  the  fort  b}'  force  of  amis.  As  the 
initiation  of  a  negotiation  for  the  transfer  of  property  between 
friendly  governments,  this  proposal  impresses  the  President  as 
having  assumed  a  most  unusual  form.  He  has,  however,  inves- 
tigated the  claim  on  which  it  professes  to  be  based,  apart  from 
the  declaration  that  accompanies  il.  And  it  may  be  here 
remarked  that  much  stress  has  been  hiid  upon  the  employment 
of  the  words  "property"  and  "public  propei-ty,"  by  the  Presi- 
dent in  his  several  messages.  These  are  the  most  comprehen- 
sive terms  which  can  be  used  in  such  a  connection,  and,  surely, 
when  referring  to  a  fort,  or  any  other  ])ublic  establishment, 
thc}^  embrace  the  entire  and  undivided  interest  of  the  Gov- 
ernment  therein.      The   title   of  the    United   States   to    Fort 


38 

Sumter  is  complete  and  incontestable.  Were  its  interest  in 
this  propert}'  purely  proprietary,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation 
of  the  term,  it  might  proltably  be  subjected  to  the  exercise  of 
the  right  of  eminent  domain  ;  but  it  has  also  political  relations 
to  it  of  a  much  higher  and  more  imposing  character  than  those 
of  mere  proprietorship.  It  has  absolute  jurisdiction  over  the 
fort,  and  the  soil  on  which  it  stands.  This  jurisdiction  con- 
sists in  the  authority  to  "  exercise  exclusive  legislation"  over 
the  property  referred  to,  and  is,  therefore,  clearly  incompatible 
with  the  claim  of ''eminent  domain,"  noAV  insisted  upon  by 
South  Carolina.  This  authority  was  not  derived  from  any 
questionable  revolutionary  source,  but  from  the  peaceful  ces- 
sion of  South  Carolina  herself,  acting  through  her  Legislature, 
under  a  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
South  Carolina  can  no  more  assert  the  right  of  eminent  domain 
over  Fort  Sumter  than  Maryland  can  assert  it  over  the  District 
of  Columbia.  The  political  and  proprietary  rights  of  the 
United  States,  in  either  case,  rest  upon  precisely  the  same 
ground. 

The  President,  however,  is  relieved  from  the  necessity  of 
further  pursuing  this  inquiry  by  the  ftict  that,  whatever  may 
be  the  claim  of  South  Carolina  to  this  fort,  he  has  no  Constitu- 
tional power  to  cede  or  surrender  it.  The  property  of  the 
United  States  has  been  acquired  by  force  of  public  law,  and 
can  only  be  disposed  of  under  the  same  solemn  sanctions.  The 
President,  as  the  head  of  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Govern- 
ment only,  can  no  more  sell  and  transfer  Fort  Sumter  to  South 
Carolina  than  he  can  sell  and  convey  the  Capital  of  the  United 
States  to  Maryland,  or  to  any  other  State  or  individual  seeking 
to  possess  it.  His  Excellency  the  Governor  is  too  ftimiliar 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  with  the  limit- 
ations upon  the  powers  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Govern- 
ment it  has  established,  not  to  appreciate  at  once  the  soundness 
of  this  legal  proposition. 

The  question  of  reinforcing  Fort  Sumter  is  so  fully  disposed 
of  in  my  letter  to  Senator  Slidell  and  others,  under  date  of 
the  22d  of  January — a  copy  of  which  accompanies  this — that 
its  discussion  will  not  now  be  renewed.  I  then  said :  "  At 
the  present  moment,  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  reinforce 
Major  Anderson,  because  he  makes  no  such  request.  Should 
his  safety,  however,  require  reinforcements,  every  effort  will 


39 

be  made  to  supply  them."  I  can  add  nothing  to  the  explieit- 
ness  of  this  language,  which  still  applies  to  the  existing  status. 
The  right  to  scud  forward  reinforcements,  when  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  President  the  safety  of  the  garrison  requires  them, 
rests  on  the  same  unquestionable  foundation  as  the  right  to 
occupy  the  fortress  itself. 

In  the  letter  of  Senator  Davis  and  others  to  yourself,  under 
date  of  the  15th  ultimo,  they  say :  "  We,  therefore,  think  it 
especially  due  from  South  Carolina  to  our  States — to  say  noth- 
ing of  other  slaveholding  States — that  she  should,  as  for  as  she 
can  consistently  with  her  honor,  avoid  initiating  hostilities 
between  her  and  the  United  States,  or  any  other  power;"  and 
you  now  yourself  give  to  the  Prersident  the  gratifying  assur- 
ance, that  "  South  Carolina  has  every  disposition  to  preserve 
the  public  peace,"  and  since  he  is  himself  sincerel}'  animated 
by  the  same  desire,  it  would  seem  that  this  common  and  patri- 
otic object  must  be  of  certain  attainment.  It  is  difficult,  how- 
ever, to  reconcile  with  this  assurance  the  declaration  on  3-our 
pai't,  that  "■  it  is  a  consideration  of  her  (South  Carolina's)  own 
dignity  as  a  sovereign,  and  the  safety  of  her  people,  which 
prompts  her  to  demand  that  this  property  should  not  longer 
be  used  as  a  military  post  by  a  Government  she  no  longer 
acknowledges,"  and  the  thought  you  so  constantly  present, 
that  this  occupation  must  lead  to  a  collision  of  arms  and  the 
prevalence  of  civil  war.  Fort  Sumter  is  in  itself  a  military 
post,  and  nothing  else,  and  it  would  seem  that  not  so  much  the 
ftict  as  the  purpose  of  its  use,  should  give  to  it  a  hostile  or  a 
friendly  character.  This  fortress  is  now  held  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  for  the  same  objects  for  which  it 
has  been  held  from  the  completion  of  its  construction.  These 
are  national  and  defensive,  and  were  a  public  enemy  now  to 
attempt  the  capture  of  Charleston,  or  the  destruction  of  the 
commerce  of  its  harbor,  the  whole  force  of  the  batteries  of  this 
fortress  would  be  at  once  exerted  for  their  protection.  How 
the  presence  of  a  small  garrison,  actuated  by  such  a  spirit  as 
this,  can  compromise  the  dignity  or  honor  of  South  Carolina, 
or  become  a  source  of  irritation  to  her  people,  the  President  is 
at  a  lo.ss  to  understand.  The  attitude  of  that  garrison,  as  has 
been  often  declared,  is  neither  menacing,  detiant,  nor  untriend- 
I3-.  It  is  acting  under  orders  to  stand  strictly  on  the  defensive, 
and  the  Government  and  people  of  South  Carolina  must  well 


40 

know  that  they  can  nevei*  receive  aught  but  sheltei'  from  its 
guns,  unless,  in  the  absence  of  all  provocation,  they  should 
assault  and  seek  its  destruction.  The  intent  with  w^hich  ^his 
fortress  is  held  by  the  President  is  truthfully  stated  by  Senator 
Davis  and  others,  in  their  letter  to  yourself  of  the  15th  Janu- 
ary, in  which  they  say,  ''it  is  not  held  with  any  hostile  or 
unfriendly  purpose  towards  your  State,  but  merely  as  property 
of  the  United  States,  which  the  President  deems  it  his  duty  to 
protect  and  preserve." 

If  the  announcement,  so  rej)eatedly  m^ade,  of  the  President's 
pacific  purposes  in  continuing  the  occupation  of  Fort  Sumter 
until  the  question  shall  have  been  settled  by  competent  au- 
thority, has  failed  to  impress  the  government  of  South  Caro- 
lina, the  forbearing  conduct  of  his  Administration  for  the  last 
few  months,  should  be  received  as  conclusive  evidence  of  his 
sincerit}'.  And  if  this  forbearance,  in  view  of  the  cii'cum- 
stances  which  have  so  severely  tried  it,  be  not  accepted  as  a 
satisfactory  pledge  of  the  peaceful  policy  of  this  administra- 
tion towards  South  Carolina,  then  it  may  be  safely  affirmed, 
that  neither  language  or  conduct  can  possibly  furnish  one.  If, 
Avith  all  the  multiplied  proofs  vv'hich  exist,  of  the  President's 
anxiety  for  peace,  and  of  the  earnestness  with  which  he  has 
pursued  it,  the  authorities  of  that  State  shall  assault  Fort 
Sumter,  and  peril  the  lives  of  the  handful  of  brave  and  loyal 
men  shut  up  within  its  walls,  and  thus  plunge  our  common 
country  into  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  then  upon  them  and  those 
they  represent,  must  rest  the  responsibility. 
Yery  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  HOLT,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  Hon.  I.  W.  Hayne, 

Attorney  General  of  State  of  South  Caroliyia. 

P.  S. — The  President  has  not,  as  you  have  been  informed, 
received  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  yourself  from  the  Senators, 
communicating  that  of  Mr.  Holt  of  the  22d  of  January. 

J.  H. 


41 
No.  17. 

[letter  of  MR.   HAYNE  TO  MR.  HOLT.] 

"Washington,  February  7,  1861. 
To  Sis  Excellency,  James  Buchanan,  President  : 

Sir  : — Your  vepl3^  through  your  Secretary  of  the  War  De- 
partment, to  my  communication  of  the  3 1st  of  January,  cover- 
ing the  demand  of  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  for  the 
delivery  of  Port  Sumter,  Avas  received  yesterday.  Although 
the  ver}-  distinct  and  emphatic  refusal  of  that  demand  closes 
my  mission,  I  feel  constrained  to  correct  some  strange  misap- 
prehensions into  which  your  Secretary  has  fallen. 

There  has  been  no  modification  of  the  demand  authorized 
to  be  made,  and  no  change  Avhatever  in  its  character,  and 
of  this  you  were  distinctly  informed  in  my  communication 
of  the  olst  of  January.  You  have  the  original  demand  as 
delivered  to  me  by  Grovernor  Pickens  on  the  12th  of  January, 
and  3-ou  have  an  extract  from  the  further  instructions 
received  by  me,  expressly  stating  that  he,  the  Govei'nor, 
was  ^^  confirmed"  in  the  views  he  entertained  on  the  12th 
of  January  by  that  very  correspondence  which  you  assign 
as  the  cause  ot  the  alleged  modification.  You  assume  that 
the  character  of  the  deuumtl  has  been  modified,  yet  you  have 
from  me  but  one  communication,  and  that  asserts  the  con- 
trary, and  you  have  nothing  ti-om  the  Governer  but  the  very 
demand  itself,  which  you  say  has  been  modified.  What  pur- 
pose of  peace  or  conciliation  your  Seci'etar}-  could  have  had 
in  view  in  the  introduction  of  this  point  at  all,  it  is  difficult  to 
pei'ceive. 

You  next  attempt  to  ridiiuk'  the  proposal  presented  "  as 
simply  an  offer  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina  to  buy  Fort 
Sumter  and  contents  as  property  of  the  United  States,  sustained 
hy  a  declaration  in  eftect  that  if  she  is  not  permitted  to  make 
the  purchase,  she  will  seize  the  fort  by  force  of  arms."  It 
is  difficult  to  consider  this  as  other  than  intentional  miscon- 
Btruetion.  You  were  told  that  South  Carolina,  as  a  separate, 
independent  sovereignty,  would  not  tolerate  the  occupation, 
by  foreign  troops,  of  a  military  post  within  her  limits,  but,  that 
inasmuch  as  you,  in  repeated  messages  and  in  your  corres- 
pondence, had  ''  laid  much  stress"  upon  the  character  of  your 
4 


42 

duties,  arising  from  considering  forts  as  property,  South  Caro- 
lina, so  far  as  this  matter  of  property,  suggested  by  yourself, 
was  concerned,  would  make  compensation  for  all  injury  done 
the  property,  in  the  exercise  of  her  sovereign  right  of  eminent 
domain.  And  this  your  Secretary  calls  a  proposal  to  purchase  ! 
The  idea  of  jmrchase  is  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  asser- 
tion of  paramount  right  in  the  purchaser.  I  had  supposed 
that  an  '*  interest  in  property,"  as  such,  could  be  no  other  than 
"  purely  proprietary,"  and  if  I  confined  myself  to  this  narrow 
view  of  your  "  relations"  to  Fort  Sumter,  you,  at  least,  should 
not  consider  it  the  subject  of  criticism.  Until  your  letter  of 
yesterday,  you  chose  so  to  consider  your  relations,  in  every- 
thing which  you  have  written,  or  which  has  been  written  under 
your  direction.  It  was  precisely  because  you  bad  yourself 
chosen  to  place  your  action  upon  the  ground  of  "  purely  pro- 
prietar}^"  right  that  the  jiroposal  of  compensation  was  made, 
and  you  now  admit  that  in  this  view  "  it  (Fort  Sumter)  would 
probably  be  subjected  to  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  eminent 
domain." 

In  your  letter  of  yesterday  (through  your  Secretary)  you 
shift  your  position.  You  claim  that  your  G-overnment  bears  to 
Fort  Sumter  "  political  relations  of  a  mu.ch  higher  and  more 
imposing  character."  It  was  no  part  of  my  mission  to  discuss 
the  "political  relations"  of  the  United  States  Government  to 
anything  within  the  territorial  limits  of  South  Carolina.  South 
Carolina  claims  to  have  dissolved  all  political  connection  with 
3^our  Government,  and  to  have  desti'oyed  all  "  political  rela- 
tions" of  your  Government  with  everything  within  her  borders. 
She  is  unquestionably  at  this  moment  de  facto  a  separate  and 
independent  Government,  exercising  complete  sovereignty  over 
every  foot  of  her  soil  except  Fort  Sumter.  Now,  that  the  in- 
tention is  avowed  to  hold  this  place  as  a  military  post,  with  a 
claim  of  exclusive  jurisdiction  on  the  part  of  a  Government 
foreign  to  South  Carolina,  it  will  be  for  the  authorities  to  deter- 
mine what  is  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued.  It  is  vain  to 
ignore  the  fact  that  South  Cai'olina  is,  to  yours,  a  foreign  Gov- 
ernment, and  how  with  this  patent  fact  before  you,  you  can 
consider  the  continued  occupation  of  a  fort  in  her  harbor  a 
pacific  measure,  and  parcel  of  a  peaceful  policy,  passes  certainly 
my  comprehension. 
■  Yoii  say  fb^t  the"  fort  Was  gafri80"ned  for  our  protection,  and 


43 

is  held  for  the  same  purposes  for  which  it  has  been  ever  held, 
since  its  construction.  Are  you  not  aware,  that  to  hold,  in  the 
territory  of  a  foreign  power,  a  fortress  against  her  will,  avow- 
edly for  the  purpose  of  protecting  her  citizens,  is,  perhaps,  the 
highest  insult  which  one  government  can  offer  to  another  ? 
But  Fort  Sumter  was  never  garrisoned  at  all  until  South  Caro- 
lina had  dissolved  her  connection  with  your  Government.  This 
garrison  entered  it  in  the  night,  with  every  circumstance  of 
secrecy,  after  spiking  the  guns,  and  burning  the  gun  carriages, 
and  cutting  down  the  flag-staff  of  an  adjacent  fort,  which  was 
then  abandoned.  South  Carolina  had  not  taken  Fort  Sumter 
into  her  own  possession,  only,  because  of  her  misplaced  ccifi- 
dence  in  a  Government  which  deceived  her.  A  fortress  occu- 
pied under  the  circumstances  above  stated,  is  considered  by 
you,  not  onl}'  as  no  cause  of  irritation,  but  you  represent  it  as 
held  for  our  protection  ! 

Your  Excellency's  Secretarj^  has  indulged  in  ironj-  on  a  very 
grave  subject. 

As  to  the  responsibilit}'  for  consequences,  if,  indeed,  it  does 
rest  on  us,  I  can  assure  your  Excellency  we  are  happily  uncon- 
scious of  the  fact. 

I  return  to  Charleston  to-morrow. 

With  considerations  of  high  regard, 
I  am,  very  respectfully, 

I.  W.  HAYXE,  Special  Envoy. 


The  above  was  returned  with  the  following  endorsement  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  President : 

"  The  character  of  this  letter  is  such  that  it  cannot  be  re- 
ceived ;  Colonel  Hayne  having  left  the  city  before  it  was  sent 
to  the  President,  it  is  returned  to  him  by  the  first  mail. 

%th  February,  1861." 


